Here at Pulm PEEPs we have always loved the CHEST Annual Meetings. We have enjoyed learning at them, reuniting with and meeting colleagues, and having conference specific episodes the past two years. This year, we had the opportunity to podcast live at CHEST 2024 and it was a real thrill! We talked to Maria Smilios about her wonderful book The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis. . The book covers a range of fascinating topics including how treatments for tuberculosis were developed, the successes and plights of Black nurses working in this endeavor, an exploration of health care in New York City, and a discussion of Racism and civil rights in American healthcare.

We were also thrilled that Virginia Allen, the last surviving Black Angel is at the conference and her and her colleagues (posthumously) are receiving an honorary FCCP.

Meet Our Guests

Maria Smiios is a native New Yorker but completed her master of arts in religion and literature right here in Boston. She completed her masters at Boston University, where she was a Luce scholar, and taught in the religion and writing program. Through her work, she found a love for history, medicine and women’s narratives. While working at Springer Publishing as a science book editor, she learned about the story of the Black Angels and was determined to tell their story. She spent years deeply engaged in the lives and stories of those who were closest to these remarkable women.