This is a study about four Black community health nurse pioneers who contributed to the development, growth, and practice of community health nursing in San Juan Hill and Harlem, two Black communities in New York City, during the early twentieth century. The purpose of this study is to present the health care contributions of: (1) Jessie Sleet, the first Black community health nurse in New York City; (2) Elizabeth Tyler, the first Black nurse to establish a settlement house in New York City; (3) Edith Carter, the first Black nurse providing primary maternal/infant care to Blacks in New York City; and (4) Mabel Staupers, the first Black nurse hired by the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association, and the organizer and first executive secretary of the Harlem branch of this organization; former Executive Secretary and President of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses; and author of the only book recording activities of the Black professional nursing organization.

The preface is an introduction of the nurses being studied. Chapter I provides historical background information of Blacks in Manhattan. It contains data describing their migration to San Juan Hill and Harlem and discusses migrational effects on Black immigrants' health in both communities. It also identifies the assignment of health care resources available for Blacks in both communities. Chapter II identifies obstacles confronting Black women entering professional nursing during the studied period. Chapters III, IV, and V discuss the contributions made by Sleet, Tyler, Carter, and Staupers to the establishment, growth, and practice of public health nursing.

The results of the study show that Jessie Sleet, Elizabeth Tyler, Edith Carter, and Mabel Keaton Staupers provided care to hundreds in New Yorks' Black communities, and leadership for Black professional nurses throughout the country. This study reflecting the historical perspective of Black community health nurses' experience fills a void in the historiographies of professional nursing, community health, and Black and women studies.