Author Maria Smilios Book Signing & Q&A
2:00pm-4:00pm  Sunday, February 11, 2024
Presentation at 2:30pm

Staten Islanders were always the beacons of light and hope. The National Lighthouse Museum is located at the site of the Quarantine (1799-1858) which was the first municipal complex of hospitals and convalescent facilities to receive and detain the sick and dying immigrants, entering New York Harbor. Heroic Staten Islanders accepted the onerous burden to care for these immigrants.

The inspirational author, Maria Smilios of The Black Angels will be at the National Lighthouse Museum to discuss another Staten Island municipal hospital, Sea View Hospital (1913-1961) which was pivotal in controlling tuberculosis (T.B.) epidemic in N.Y.C. Maria recounts the story of the critical role of Southern, Black nurses in the managed care at Sea View Hospital for the incurable, patients with the wasting disease, tuberculosis (T.B.). Later by 1940’s, these “Black Angels” brought the cure of T.B. to the nation.

Maria Smilios was born and raised in New York City. In 2016, while working as a developmental editor for Springer Science she learned about this extraordinary story and became determined to tell it. She holds a Master of Arts in American literature and religion from Boston University where she was a Luce scholar and taught in the religion and writing program. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Narratively, The Forward, Lit Hub, Writers Digest, Dame Magazine, The Rumpus, and other publications.

 The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis is her first book.

You can find Maria at mariasmilios.com