Ms. Allen is an inspiring figure, a nonagenarian who maintains her nursing license, a community leader and activist. She is a founding member and past president of the National Council of Negro Women (Staten Island section), the Harriet Tubman Purple Hat Society, and the New York State Women, Inc. Staten Island Chapter. Ms. Allen is also an active member of multiple community organizations including Sandy Ground Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Staten Island Museum. 

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Ms. Allen moved from Detroit, Michigan to NY in 1947 and started her career as a nurse’s aide at 16 years old working in the children’s ward at Sea View Hospital, which had the largest tuberculosis sanitarium in the region. Notably, Sea View is where the first human trials of the treatment for TB, isoniazid, were conducted, largely in part due to the work of the Black nurses who helped conduct the clinical trial for the drug by administering treatments, observing patients, and reporting results. 

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Ms. Allen and the Black Angels provided care for patients with active TB, a disease that killed 5.6 million U.S. residents between 1900 and 1950, ravaging the public’s health. In New York City alone, the disease killed 10,000 people annually before the city opened a sanatorium on Staten Island, where, in those days, TB patients would find sunlight, fresh air, and plenty of rest—the standard treatment for the disease at the time. Ms. Allen was inspired by and recruited to work at Sea View by her aunt Edna Sutton-Ballard, a surgical nurse and Black Angel herself. 

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While working at Sea View, Ms. Allen enrolled in nursing school at Central School for Practical Nurses at Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island through a work-study program and graduated with honors, earning her license in practical nursing in 1956. She worked at Sea View for a decade and went on to work as a private duty nurse, a surgical nurse and eventually a personnel-training director at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. She then returned to school and pursued a career in labor relations, for healthcare workers in the Service Employees International Union 1199. She transitioned back to health care and worked at Staten Island University Hospital, then in a private OB/GYN practice, before retiring.

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Ms. Allen received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York in May 2021. She has been recognized with several prestigious honors for her outstanding work and legacy including the Staten Island Advance's Women of Achievement Award, New York University’s Rory Meyer College of Nursing Helen Manzer Award and induction into the National Black Nurses Association’s Academy of Diversity of Nursing Leaders (ADLN) as a Luminary ADLN Fellow. Ms. Allen’s compassionate care, especially her treatment of children in the hospital, exemplifies the human connection and understanding that nursing offers to health care. The personal sacrifices Ms. Allen and the other Black Angels made in order to care for patients are a testament to her perseverance and leadership, particularly in times of crisis. Her commitment has and will continue to inspire countless generations of nurses as we navigate future health care challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Allen’s career epitomizes the hope, strength, and humanity that nurses bring to their communities. The Black Angels, true champions of health equity, will undoubtedly inspire nurses for generations to come, symbolizing the incredible impact of the profession in even the most dire circumstances. The story of the Black Angel nurses and their efforts to desegregate the New York City hospital system is the subject of a book by Maria Smilios published in 2023.