Griot African-American Book Discussion

The Black Angels by Maria Smilios

We feature books by African-American authors and meet for discussion in person and virtually via Zoom on the third Tuesday of the month. October's selection: The Black Angels by Maria Smilios

Meeting location change beginning in July 2025! Due to Eola Road Branch renovations, the Griot Book Discussion will meet in person at the Santori Library, 3rd floor Quiet Reading Room until further notice.

Attend in person at Santori Library or virtually via Zoom. Print copies of the book are available for checkout at the Santori Library, 3rd floor, or Eola Road Branch Adult Reference Desk, 2nd floor. Email group facilitator Becky Clark at rclark@aurorapubliclibrary.org for more information.

Join us virtually here.

Book description:

New York City, 1929. A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nursing shortage. 
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. (publisher description)

I acknowledge my participation (or my child’s participation) in this virtual program includes the recording of this program which may include my name as listed on my account, images and/or video footage. I grant the Aurora Public Library District my permission to use the photographs and/or video footage for any legal use, including but not limited to: publicity, copyright purposes, illustration, advertising, and web content.   
 
Furthermore, I understand that no royalty, fee or other compensation shall become payable to me by reason of such use. 

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