Grady Memorial Hospital Centennial Year [name badge], circa 1992

Nurse, activist, lobbyist, administrator, and pioneer, Mary Nathaniel Long was born in Guthrie, Kentucky, in 1941. She moved to Atlanta in 1960 to be trained at Grady Memorial Hospital's School of Nursing, from which she graduated in 1963. Following a brief marriage,Mary Long embarked on a distinguished career at the hospital. Starting as an ambulatory care nurse at Grady, she also gained extensive experience volunteering at Atlanta's free clinics and assisting local health organizations. In 1969, Grady Hospital, the cornerstone of the region's public health system, made an active effort to reach the greater Atlanta community by participating in Economic Opportunity Atlanta's health fairs. Mary Long was at the center of this effort, also helping to develop Grady's satellite clinics around that time. In 1971, Grady created a new department, Central Referral, which acted as a first contact and primary information resource for those unfamiliar with the hospital system, and as an advocate, assisting patients and families with policies and procedures so community members could receive the care they needed. Mary Long had developed the program, and was the first Coordinator of the Central Referral Department at Grady (her title later was Director of Community Health), a position she held until 1985. While working at Grady, Long began her extensive career of service to the Georgia Nurses Association (GNA), and its philanthropic organization, Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF). An active member and chairperson of GNA's Governmental Affairs Commission, Long gained extensive experience lobbying the Georgia legislature, especially over key Medical Practice Act legislation in 1980. In 1981, she was elected President of GNA, the first African American to hold the position. She served two terms as GNA president, until 1985. A member of the City of Atlanta's Homeless Task Force, Long was instrumental in the partnership between the city and the GNF that, in 1984, led to the establishment of Atlanta's first clinic for the homeless. ...