The Staten Island Museum offers insight into Staten Island's natural and cultural history across time. The staff at the museum was friendly, insightful, and knowledgeable, which allowed us to learn more about the museum than we could have without their guidance.

"Black Angels" Exhibit

At this exhibit, we uncovered many important secrets of Staten Island. Many African American nurses were having difficulty finding employment in the South because of discrimination and segregation. During the Great Migration, they traveled from the south to Staten Island, where they found work at Seaview Hospital. Many of the white nurses who had worked there left the job because they were fearful of catching tuberculosis from their patients. There was no cure for tuberculosis, so the nurses were tasked with mitigating the symptoms of their patients and making them comfortable. One method they used was to mix medication with hot water in an early version of an inhaler. It was here in 1951 that the cure for TB (tuberculosis) was developed.

Fast facts: 

• Many African American nurses there risked their lives to help these patients and passed away from tuberculosis themselves.

• One of the African American nurses had her niece, Virginia Allen, working in the same hospital. The niece is still alive today.

• Since there was no cure for tuberculosis, the recommended treatment was breathing fresh air.

If you enjoy history and medicine, come visit The Black Angels exhibit at the Staten Island Museum, an untold story of Staten Island.

Student Quotes

• "I enjoyed the Sung Harbor Staten Island Museum, it was very informative and provided amazing artifacts from the time period. The artifacts were interesting to look back along with the history." --Adrianna 

• "I enjoyed the Staten Island Museum greatly due to the fact that I was able to learn more about the past... The tour guide was very nice and it was a great learning experience." --Aidan

• "I liked the Staten Island Museum...because I liked the artifacts of the museum and it was interesting to learn about the Black Angels." --Daniel

• "I enjoyed the Staten Island Museum because it showed the history of where we live. I would like to go back and see the other exhibits to learn more about the history of Staten Island." --Riley