Dr. Virginia Allen, DHL, LPN

The Last Living of the Black Angels

Virginia Allen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1931 and raised in Detroit, Michigan, until age 16, when she persuaded her parents to let her live with her Aunt Edna—a registered nurse—on Staten Island, which paved the way for her nursing career. There, she cared for tuberculosis patients at Sea View Hospital’s sanitarium, an early testament to her commitment to the most vulnerable. These efforts led to her recognition as one of the Black Angels; today, as the last surviving Black Angel, she embodies a living link to that pioneering legacy of service and sacrifice.

In her sixties, Virginia pivoted from bedside nursing to labor relations—studying at Cornell University, New York University, and the College of Staten Island—to better serve the members of Local 144 (nursing homes) and 1199 SEIU (healthcare workers). During her tenure as president of the National Council of Negro Women, Staten Island Section, she established a Youth Scholarship Fund and launched the annual Harambee Celebration, honoring community leaders who give selflessly. Ultimately, she returned to nursing, still holds a current license, and retired from the operating room at Staten Island University Hospital.

A lifelong community activist and board member, Virginia has devoted over four decades to numerous organizations: Cultural Crossroads in Fort Greene; Art Lab at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center; Staten Island OutLOUD; the College of Staten Island Auxiliary Board for Grants in Education and Vocation; the Unitarian Church of Staten Island (as Trustee and committee member); the Staten Island Ballet; and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, Inc. She is a member of the NAACP, New York Urban League, Sandy Ground Historical Society, Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. (Lambda Chapter), The Weeksville Society, North Star Lions Club, New York State Women’s Club (formerly BPW, serving as Historian), and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. An original member of NCNW–SI, she became a Legacy Life member in 2001 and has held nearly every executive position and chaired virtually every committee, shaping the Section’s practices that endure today.

Virginia’s leadership has garnered accolades from Councilwoman Debbie Rose, the New York State Senate and Assembly, the Borough President’s office, the Staten Island Advance, Stapleton UAME, and St. Philip’s Baptist Church. She received the Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. Distinguished Service Key, was named a New York State Woman of Distinction, and honored as a Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement, Class of 2005. In 2021, she earned the New York State Nurses Association’s Black History Month recognition, a Health Equity and Inclusion award from Staten Island Women Who March, and further recognition as a Black Angel at the unveiling of the Sea View Murals.

Virginia enjoys music, art, the theater, and traveling. She is an avid reader. She holds fast to the belief that “this world is all we have—and it is our duty to care for one another,” a credo she has lived for over nine decades.