Gibson, a former enslaved person, worked as a midwife for many years and later earned her degree in nursing in 1907 at age 53.

Gibson was the first African American to earn an accredited nursing degree in the Southern United States.

[2] She met her husband, Reverend Franklin Gibson, in Sherman and the couple moved to Fort Worth in 1872.

[1] Mary Gibson worked as a midwife and her husband encouraged her to get a degree in nursing.

[1] When she graduated at age 53 in 1907, she became the first African American person in the Southern United States to earn an accredited nursing certificate.