African-American Medical Pioneers

By Press release submission

Feb 22, 2022

Aultman Hospital issued the following announcement on Feb. 21

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by Black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African-Americans in U.S. history. At Aultman, we’re taking time this month to reflect on many of the essential contributions made in the medical field thanks to the dedication of a few amazing individuals.

Below are just a few medical professionals who made a profound impact in their fields.

After beginning his education at the African Free School in New York City, James McCune Smith (1813-1865) soon found he could go no further in U.S. education due to racial discrimination. He then chose to cross the Atlantic and studied instead at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Because of his determination, Smith was the first African-American to earn a medical degree and practice medicine in the United States. He was also the first to own and operate a pharmacy.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831-1895) devoted her life to improving health in the Black community through research and clinical work. In Boston, she established a practice dedicated to serving women and children, especially through nutrition and preventive medicine. In 1883, after a full career of helping patients, she published her two-volume work A Book of Medical Discourses, designed to offer women a reference on how to provide medical care for themselves and their children.
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) was the first Black professional nurse in America, and an active organizer among African-American nurses. In 1878, she was accepted in the New England Hospital for Women and Children's Nursing School. Of the 42 students in her class, Mahoney was one of just four who graduated the next year.
Dr. Rebecca J. Cole (1846-1922) was the first Black female doctor in the United States. Cole was an advocate for the poor and routinely made house calls to slum neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. While serving patients door-to-door for 30 years, Cole informed government officials of the role of slumlords in the death rate of Blacks with poor hygiene. In 1873, she opened a Woman's Directory Center providing medical and legal services to women and children.
Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) was a daring nurse who volunteered for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Taylor cared about all the "boys in blue," regardless of their color. When soldiers were quarantined with smallpox, she snuck into their tents to nurse them back to health even though it was not permitted.
Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) founded the first Black-owned hospital in America, Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses, in 1891. Later, in 1893, he also performed the world's first successful heart surgery.
After an accelerated course of study at the University of Kansas and later Harvard, William Augustus Hinton (1883-1959) assumed the job of chief of the Boston Dispensary's laboratory department in 1916. For most of his research career, he worked on laboratory tests designed to improve the diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1927, he developed an easier, less expensive and more accurate test for diagnosing syphilis – later known as the Hinton test.
The first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry in the U.S., St. Elmo Brady (1884-1966) taught at historically Black universities, leaving an impressive teaching legacy of strong undergraduate and graduate chemistry programs.
A social worker, politician and statesman, Eugene Kinkle Jones (1885-1954) worked to ensure a place for African-Americans within the social work profession. He believed the best solution to address racial disharmony was to develop working relationships between the races.
Percy L. Julian's (1899-1975) pioneering research led to the process that made the drug physostigmine readily available for the treatment of glaucoma. DePauw University named the Percy L. Julian Science and Mathematics Center in his honor.
Charles Richard Drew (1904-1950) was a physician, researcher and surgeon who revolutionized our understanding of blood plasma. During World War II alone, his work allowed blood storage for transfusions that saved many thousands of lives.
A trailblazing social worker, Dorothy Height (1920-2012) opened the door for countless Americans, particularly women and girls, during her lifelong quest for justice. She fought to stop lynching and worked to desegregate the armed forces. In 1994, Height was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 10 years later, she received the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2017, the U.S. Postal Service honored Height by dedicating the 40th stamp in the Black Heritage series to her.
When he died in 1982, Otis Boykin (1920-1982) had 26 patents in his name. His most famous invention was a control unit for the pacemaker, which used electrical impulses to stimulate the heart and create a steady heartbeat.
The first black woman to be promoted to brigadier general and the first to head the 7,000-strong U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Hazel W. Johnson-Brown (1927-2011) was awarded a number of distinguished military decorations, in addition to being named Army Nurse of the Year two times.
After serving in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Lonnie Bristow (1930-Present) became the first African-American president of American Society of Internal Medicine in 1981. Then, in 1995, he became the first African-American president of the American Medical Association.
The first African-American to complete a residency in ophthalmology, Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019) was also the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent. In 1986, she invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment.
Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson SR. (1951-present) is one of the world's most famous doctors, known for his neurology surgeries separating conjoined twins. In 2004, Carson received the Healthcare Humanitarian Award for enhancing the quality of human lives, influencing history and his ongoing contributions to health care and medicine.