Maria Smilios with Joshunda Sanders: The Black Angels

Journalist and writer Maria Smilios joins us to discuss her new book, The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis, with fellow author Joshunda Sanders.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

In the pre-antibiotic days when tuber­culosis stirred people’s darkest fears, killing one in seven, white nurses at Sea View, New York’s largest municipal hospital, began quitting en masse. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, city officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the stric­tures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed sanatorium, dubbed “the pest house,” where it was said that “no one left alive.”

Spanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this remarkable true story follows the intrepid young women known by their patients as the “Black Angels.” For twenty years, they risked their lives work­ing under appalling conditions while caring for New York’s poorest residents, who languished in wards, waiting to die, or became guinea pigs for experimental surgeries and often deadly drugs. But despite their major role in desegregating the New York City hospital system—and their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculo­sis at Sea View—these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story, celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival. At this event, Maria Smilios will discuss her new book and more with author Joshunda Sanders. 

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Maria Smilios is a journalist and author of The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis. In 2016, while working as a developmental editor for Springer Science she learned about this extraordinary story and became determined to tell it. Maria holds a Master of Arts in American literature and religion from Boston University where she was a Luce scholar and taught in the religion and writing program. She has written for The Guardian, Narratively, The Forward, Lit Hub, Writer's Digest, Dame Magazine, The Rumpus, and other publications. This is her first book. 

Joshunda Sanders is an author & executive communications leader. Her debut novel, Women of the Post, published in July 2023 to acclaim from Alice Walker, Honoree Fannone Jeffers and Jacqueline Woodson, among others. She currently works as the Senior Executive Communications Officer to the President and CEO at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Her work has appeared in TIME Magazine, Poets & Writers, The New York Times, Oxford American and many other publications. She has been the recipient of numerous writing residencies, fellowships or awards from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Lambda Literary, Bronx Council on the Arts, Hedgebrook, VONA and the Key West Literary Seminars. In 2018, she was awarded the competitive Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Award for excellence in fiction. She lives in her hometown, the Bronx. You can learn more about her and her work at joshundasanders.com.

GET THE BOOK

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Amy Geduldig at least 48 hours before the event: email amygeduldig@nypl.org.
 

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. 

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).