The National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) was organized in 1908 when a group of fifty-two graduate nurses met in New York City. Martha Franklin of Connecticut, a graduate of the school of nursing of the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia, spearheaded the development of the organization. Franklin had spent much of her time and personal monies on collecting data to determine existing conditions among black nurses. At the conclusion of her survey she called a meeting at St. Marks Methodist Church in New York City. The meeting was sponsored by the Lincoln School for Nurses Alumnae Association. Miss Franklin was elected president at the first meeting. The goals of the new organization were: to achieve higher professional standards, to break down discriminatory practices facing black nurses, and to develop leadership among black nurses.

The first convention of black nurses was held in Boston in 1909. Twenty-six attended at the invitation of Mary Mahoney, the first black professionally trained nurse in the country. In 1918 temporary headquarters were established in New York City through the courtesy of the 137th Street Young Women's Christian Association. When headquarters in the YWCA were closed, Belle Davis, the executive secretary of the National Health Circle for Colored People provided space at her organization's office.

In 1934 a conference was held in New York City to determine a future course of action for the NACGN. Present among the officers and executive board of the NACGN were representatives of the American Nurses' Association, the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, the National League of Nursing Education, the New York State Board of Nurse Examiners, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the National Health Circle for Colored People, and the National Medical Association. The conference stressed the fact that black nurses needed jobs without the pressures of racial bias. Among other things, the conference participants decided to establish permanent headquarters in office space loaned to them by the National Health Circle for Colored People. The executive board employed a nurse executive with a grant from the Rosenwald Fund, and an executive secretary was hired to implement a day-to-day program. In addition, a Citizen Advisory Committee was organized, regional sections were established, and a program was outlined. The program was carried forward with community assistance and financial support from NACGN's membership. Two years later a substantial increase in membership and volume of work made it necessary for the NACGN to establish an office of its own and to hire additional staff.

Through the war years, the NACGN worked tirelessly to interpret the needs of black nurses and led a vigorous campaign to end discrimination in the field. The first quota of fifty-six black nurses for the U.S. Army was announced in 1942; at the end of the war the Army had commissioned over five-hundred black nurses. During the same period the Federal government was taking other steps to increase the numbers of and opportunities for black nurses. An important breakthrough was the passage of the Bolton Act (1943) which provided for the training of nurses for the armed forces, government and civilian hospitals, health agencies, and war industries through grants to institutions providing such training. The act stated that there would be no discrimination in the administration of benefits and thus brought about an increase in the number of black nursing students in the country.

As early as 1942, the National League of Nursing Education had set a precedent by changing its by-laws. These changes made it possible for any eligible applicant to be admitted into the national organization if barred from membership in her state League. This stimulated several state Leagues to admit black nurses. By 1948 only nine states and the District of Columbia still barred black nurses. In 1949 at the NACGN convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the NACGN unanimously accepted the suggestion of the American Nurses Association (ANA) that NACGN functions be taken over by the ANA and that its program be expanded for the complete integration of black nurses. Under the leadership of President Mabel Staupers, author of a history of the organization titled No Time for Prejudice, NACGN membership voted the NACGN out of existence in 1951.