In the annals of healthcare history, there exists a profound narrative of resilience, innovation, and trailblazing efforts led by Black healthcare pioneers. These individuals, often working against systemic barriers, have left a permanent mark on the healthcare landscape, contributing significantly to advancements that benefit society as a whole.
We celebrate these brilliant individuals and the contributions they made to healthcare.
Daniel Hale Williams 1856-1931: American Physician and founder of Provident Hospital in Chicago, IL.
Provident Hospital was the country’s first interracial hospital offering healthcare to the black community. This hospital also provided medical training to African American Interns and offered the first nursing program offered to African-Americans.
Dr. Williams is known for performing the first successful heart surgery on July 10, 1893 to a patient who had been stabbed in the chest. The patient had damage to the internal mammary -for 20 more years. (1)
Read more about the accomplishments of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
Charles Drew 1904-1950: American Surgeon and medical researcher – “Father of the blood bank”
Dr. Charles Drew was a pioneer in developing methods of long-term storage of blood plasma to allow for life-saving blood transfusions. Before his work, blood could only be preserved for a few days. Today, whole red blood can be preserved for up to 42 days with plasma being preserved for up to a year! Because of this, 5,000 liters of plasma were sent overseas to aid British soldiers in WWII and again to American Forces in the war. The National Blood Donor Service came out of this, which then developed into the American Red Cross. During this time, blood was segregated by race, an outrageous disservice that led to Dr. Drew ending his relationship with the Red Cross. In 1948, the Red Cross put out a statement explaining that there is no scientific or medical reason to segregate blood by race. Today, the Red Cross collects half of America’s transfused blood. Nearly 16 million blood components are transfused each year in America alone. Roughly 6.8 million people donate each year in America alone with 118.54 million units of blood donated globally each year.
Dr. Drew invented the first bloodmobile, a concept still heavily used by donation centers all over the world. Thanks to him, you can donate today. (2)
Read more about Dr. Charles Drew
James McCune Smith 1813-1865 American Physician, abolitionist and Author
Dr. James Smith, born enslaved, was the first African American to earn his Medical Degree in 1837. Systemic racism in the United states kept Dr. James Smith out of American Universities therefore, he completed his medical training at the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland before returning back to America to practice medicine and open the first black-owned pharmacy. He was deemed as one of the leading medical doctors in New York, sought out by both men and women of all races, even during a heavily segregated and racist time. Because of the state of society, he focused much of his time toward publishing literature on the pseudoscientific claims of black inferiority and oppression, claims that still circulate the minds of many to this day. (3)
Read more about Dr. James McCune Smith
Rebecca Lee Crumpler 1831-1895 Nurse, Doctor, Author
Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African American Woman to earn her medical degree from the New England Female Medical College in 1864. Starting in healthcare as a nurse, she gained 8 years of experience and received high praises from the physicians she worked with that ultimately gained her scholarship into medical school despite racism and sexism. After the Civil War, she joined the Freedmen’s Bureau to serve black women, children and freed slaves who had never received healthcare a day in their life. She had a passion for serving the underserved and persisted even in the face of intense racism in the south. She published “A Book of Medical Disclosures” which could be considered one of the first books that shed light on Black Maternal health. In the United states, black women are 3 times more likely to die during childbirth than non-black women due to the racial disparities plaguing the nation still to this day. (4)
Read more about Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
1 – https://www.facs.org/media/mannxtui/04_daniel_hale_williams.pdf
2- https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?order=DATE&range=10&zipSponsor=28607
3 – https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/147129.James_McCune_Smith
4 – https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html
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