 While working as a private nurse in Washington and New York, Staupers helped establish the Booker T. Washington Sanatorium.It was the first and one of the few in-patient centers founded to care for African Americans who had tuberculosis, at a time when other hospitals refused black medical experts privileges or staffing positions.Staupers served as Superintendent for the Booker T. Washington Sanatorium from 1920 to 1922.