10 history-making black physicians
Key Takeaways
February marks Black History Month. In the spirit of honoring African American culture and accomplishments, we look to medicine’s past to highlight the countless achievements and barriers broken by black physicians in America. These are 10 of the countless African American medical pioneers, and how they made history.
Dr. James Durham
First African-American physician
Born in 1762 and living and working most of his life in slavery, James Durham is considered the first African American to work as a doctor in America. While he never formally held a medical degree, some of Durham’s owners were physicians who taught him what they knew. Durham would go on to run a successful practice in New Orleans, where he helped victims of yellow fever.
Dr. James McCune Smith
First black doctor to practice with a medical degree in the U.S.
Born in 1813, James McCune Smith (depicted at the top of this post) earned his medical degree in Glasgow, Scotland. As a black man, Smith was barred from earning his degree in the U.S. Smith completed his education and returned to New York, where he worked alongside abolitionist Frederick Douglass to put an end to slavery. Smith and Douglass established the National Council of the Colored People.
Dr. Rebecca Crumpler
First black woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born in 1831, began her career as a nurse but would go on to become the first female African American to earn a medical degree. When the Civil War ended, Crumpler moved her practice to Richmond, Virginia. There, she worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau, tending to the health of newly freed slaves. You can read more about Crumpler and other trailblazing female physicians here.
Dr. Daniel Williams
Performed first open-heart surgery and owned first interracial, black-owned hospital
Williams’ Provident Hospital would become the first of its kind in 1893 — a medical facility with an interracial staff and interracial patients. In addition to being a healthcare business pioneer, Williams is considered one of the first surgeons to have a successful open-heart outcome. Later in life, Williams would become the chief surgeon at Freedmen’s Hospital.
Dr. Alexa Irene Canady
First female African-American neurosurgeon
Canady almost never became a physician, due to what she called a “crisis of confidence” as an undergraduate math major. She recovered, earned a scholarship to University of Michigan Medical School in 1975, graduated cum laude, and went on to become the first female African-American neurosurgeon in the U.S. Along the way, she faced a great deal of prejudice. During her surgical internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1975, a hospital administrator called her an “equal-opportunity package.” Her peers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia would vote her as one of the top residents of 1981-1982.