March 9, 1895 Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, the first African American woman to become a physician in the United States, died.

Crumpler was born February 8, 1831 in Delaware. In 1852, she moved to Charleston, Massachusetts where she worked as a nurse for eight years.

In 1864, Crumpler earned a medical degree from the New England Female Medical College, making her the first African American woman in the United States to earn that degree and the only African American to graduate from that college. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, Crumpler moved to Richmond, Virginia where she joined other black physicians caring for formerly enslaved people who otherwise had no access to medical care. Crumpler authored “A Book of Medical Discourses” in 1883.

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March 8, 1825 Alexander Thomas Augusta, surgeon, professor of medicine, and Civil War veteran, was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Augusta attempted to study medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, but was not allowed to due to his race.

Therefore, he enrolled at Trinity Medical College of the University of Toronto and in 1856 received a degree in medicine. Augusta remained in Toronto and established his medical practice, supervised staff at Toronto General Hospital, directed an industrial school, and founded the Provincial Association for the Education and Elevation of the Colored People of Canada.

In 1860, he returned to the United States and in 1863 received a major’s commission as surgeon for African American troops in the Union Army, making him the first African American physician and the highest ranking African American in the army. After the war, Augusta accepted an assignment with the Freedman’s Bureau, heading Lincoln Hospital.

He also served on the staff of the Washington, D.C. Freedman’s Hospital from 1868 to 1877. Augusta died December 21, 1890 and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

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NBNA is a non-profit organization first organized in 1971, but officially incorporated on September 2, 1972 in Ohio.  After more than 40 years, the association continues to grow and expand the opportunities to “provide a forum for collective action by African American nurses to investigate, define and determine what the health care needs of African Americans are and to implement change to make available to African Americans and other minorities health care commensurate with that of the larger society.”

Representing more than 150,000 African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, nursing students and retired nurses from the USA, Eastern Caribbean and Africa, with 83 chartered chapters, in 34 states, NBNA offers scholarships, training, mentoring, and leadership to nurses around the world.

Dr. Lauranne Sams, former Dean and Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing at Tuskegee University was a founding member along with Phyllis Jenkins, Betty Smith Williams, Ethelrine Shaw, Gloria Rookard, Betty Jo Davidson, Mary Harper, Doris Wilson, Mattiedna K. Johnson, Phyllis Davis, Mattie Watkins, and Florrie Jefferson

In 2003, the National Black Nurses Association became one of the five founding organizations of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA), along with Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association, Inc., National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association, Inc.; National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Inc.; and, the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. This collaboration gives voice to 350,000 minority nurses. Dr. Betty Smith Williams is the NCEMNA president and a past NBNA president.

Its goals include support for the development of a cadre of ethnic nurses reflecting the nation’s diversity; advocacy for culturally competent, accessible and affordable health care; promotion of the professional and educational advancement of ethnic nurses; education of consumers, health care professionals and policy makers on health issues of ethnic minority populations; development of ethnic minority nurse leaders in areas of health policy, practice, education and research; endorsement of best practice models of nursing practice, education, and research for minority populations.

NBNA also publishes a quarterly newsletter written by members and experts on nursing and health subjects such as nursing policies, research studies, and newsworthy events changing the world of nursing.

NBNA hosts National Black Nurse Day on Capitol Hill for more than 20 years now.  The event is designed to bring awareness to the nursing shortage, provide opportunities for CEU training for nurses, and provide the public with a voice to develop the nursing profession.

NBNA offers members a wide variety of assistance and support both as a current nurse and a nursing student.  Although initially organized for African American nurses, this organization has made an impact on all nursing.  The association is involved with the National Obesity Initiative, research programs for women’s health, and recognizes nurses for Lifetime Achievements and major contributions to their professions at their annual conference.

Through the many partnerships with other nursing organizations and the prominent community respect, the organization continues to grow and improve the nursing profession.

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March 2, 1941 David Satcher, physician and public health administrator, was born in Anniston, Alabama.

Satcher earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College in 1963.

He simultaneously earned his medical degree and Ph.D. in cytogenetics from Case Western Reserve University in 1970. From 1979 to 1982, Satcher served as professor and chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at Morehouse School of Medicine, from 1982 to 1993 as president of Meharry Medical College, and from 1993 to 1998 as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

In 1998, Satcher was appointed Surgeon General by President William Clinton, a position he held until 2002. In 2006, Satcher established the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine to improve public health for all Americans and to eliminate health disparities for minorities, the poor, and other disadvantaged groups. Satcher is the recipient of many honorary degrees and other honors, including the New York Academy of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Disease in 2004.

Satcher serves on the Board of Directors of Johnson and Johnson, MetLife, and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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January 18, 1856 Daniel Hale Williams, the first African American cardiologist in the United States, was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

Williams graduated from Chicago Medical College (now Northwestern University Medical School) in 1883. In 1891, he founded Provident Hospital, the first integrated hospital in the United States, and training school for nurses in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1893, Williams performed an operation on a man that had been stabbed in the chest. The operation required that he open the man’s chest, and close the wound around the heart. This is often noted as the first successful surgery on the heart. In 1895, he co-founded the National Medical Association for black doctors. In 1913, he became a charter member, and the only black member, in the American College of Surgeons.

Williams received honorary degrees from Howard and Wilberforce Universities. Williams died on August 4, 1931. Biographies of Williams include “Daniel Hale Williams: Negro Surgeon” (1968) and “Daniel Hale Williams: Open Heart Doctor” (1970). The Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine in Chicago is named in his honor.

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January 15, 1891 Bridget “Biddy” Mason, nurse, real estate entrepreneur, and philanthropist, died.

Mason was born enslaved on August 15, 1818 in Hancock County, Georgia. She was given to a couple as a wedding present and they took her to Mississippi and then to California. California was a free state and any enslaved person brought into the state was supposed to be freed.

The couple refused to free Mason. Therefore, she petitioned a Los Angeles court and was granted her freedom. Mason worked as a nurse and a midwife and was one of the first African Americans to purchase land in the city. She amassed a fortune of nearly $300,000 which she shared with charities. She was instrumental in founding a traveler’s aid center and an elementary school for black children.

In 1872, Mason donated the land to and was a founding member of First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the city’s first and oldest black church. Mason is an honoree in the California Social Work Hall of Distinction and is annually celebrated on Biddy Mason Day on November 19th. Her biography, “The Life and Times of Biddy Mason,” was published in 1976.

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December 29, 1957 Miles Vandahurst Lynk, pioneering physician, died.

Lynk was born June 3, 1871 in Brownsville, Tennessee. In 1888 at the age of 17, he took a job teaching in Black rural schools to earn money to further his education. In 1891, he earned a medical degree from Meharry Medical College and in 1892 founded “The Medical and Surgical Observer,” the first national medical journal for black physicians.

The monthly journal was published until 1894, focusing on Black medical issues and offering the latest information available on treatments and professional ethics. In 1895, Lynk was one of the twelve founders of the National Association of Colored Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists, predecessor to The National Medical Association. In 1900, Lynk founded the University of West Tennessee, a black university that taught medicine, dentistry and law, which operated until 1924. In 1952, Lynk received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Medical Association. The Tennessee Historical Commission erected a historical marker near his home in Brownsville to commemorate his life.

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December 6, 1961 Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist, revolutionary, and author, died.

Fanon was born July 20, 1925 on the Caribbean island of Martinique. He served in the French army during World War II. Fanon’s service in the French army and his experiences in Martinique fueled his first book, “Black Skin, White Masks,” (1952) which analyzed the effects of colonial subjugation on humanity.

In 1961, he wrote “The Wretched of the Earth,” which discussed the effects on Algerians of torture by the French forces during the Algerian revolution. Many of his shorter writings were posthumously published in the book “Toward the African Revolution.” Several biographies of Fanon have been published, including “Fanon” (1971) and “Frantz Fanon: A Life” (2001).

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Mabel Keaton Stauper

November 29, 1989 Mabel Keaton Stauper, a leader in breaking down barriers in nursing, died.Stauper was born February 27, 1890 in Barbados, West Indies. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was 13. In 1917, she graduated from Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing and in 1920 helped two physicians establish the first hospital in Harlem to treat blacks with tuberculosis.

In 1934, Stauper became executive secretary of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses and over the next 12 years she increased membership, established a citizen advisory committee, built coalitions with other medical groups, and dismantled many racial barriers, including integrating the Armed Forces Nurse Corps in 1945 and the American Nurses Association in 1948.

Stauper earned many honors, including the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1951. In 1961, she published her autobiography, “No Time for Prejudice: A Story of the Integration of Negroes in Nursing in the United States.”

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Vivien Theodore Thomas

November 26, 1985 Vivien Theodore Thomas, surgical technician and animal surgeon, died.

Thomas was born August 29, 1910 in New Iberia, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, he had hoped to go to college and become a doctor. However, the Great Depression derailed his plans and in 1930 he secured a job with Dr. Alfred Blalock at Vanderbilt University. Although doing the job of a laboratory assistant, Thomas was classified and paid as a janitor.

In 1941, Blalock accepted the position of chief of surgery at John Hopkins Hospital and requested that Thomas accompany him. On November 29, 1944, using the tools adapted by Thomas from the animal lab and with Thomas at his shoulder coaching him, Blalock performed the first surgery to relieve “blue baby syndrome.” The operation came to be known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt and Thomas received no mention.

Over his 38 years at John Hopkins, Thomas trained many surgeons that went on to become chiefs of surgical departments around the country and in 1968 they commissioned the painting of his portrait which hangs next to Blalock’s in the lobby of the Alfred Blalock Clinical Sciences Building. The Vivian Thomas Young Investigator Awards are given by the Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesiology and in 2004 the city of Baltimore opened the Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy.

Thomas’ autobiography, “Partners of the Heart: Vivian Thomas and his Work with Alfred Blalock,” was published in 1985 and, in 2004, his story was told in the HBO film “Something the Lord Made.”

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Ernest Everett Just

October 27, 1941 Ernest Everett Just, pioneering biologist and one of the founders of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, died.

Just was born August 14, 1883 in Charleston, South Carolina. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in zoology in 1907. After graduating and encountering the reality that it was almost impossible for an African American to join the faculty of a white college or university, Just accepted a position at Howard University.

On November 11, 1911, Just served as the academic adviser to three Howard students in establishing Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. In 1912, Just was appointed head of the Department of Zoology at Howard, a position he held until his death. Just was the first recipient of the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1915 and the next year he earned his Ph. D. in zoology from the University of Chicago.

In 1930, Just was the first American to be invited to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, Germany where several Nobel Prize winners conducted research. He wrote the important textbook, “Biology of the Cell Surface,” in 1939. Just’s biography, “Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest E. Just,” was published in 1983. The book received the Pfizer Award and was a finalist for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

In 1996, Just became the 19th honoree in the United States Postal Service’s Black Heritage postage stamp series. Beginning in 2000, the Medical University of South Carolina has hosted the annual Ernest E. Just Symposium to encourage non-white students to pursue careers in biomedical sciences and health professions.

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Regina Marcia Benjamin

October 26, 1956 Regina Marcia Benjamin, Surgeon General of the United States, was born in Mobile, Alabama.

Benjamin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Xavier University in 1979, her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alabama in 1984, and her Master of Business Administration degree from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in 1991. In 1990, she founded the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic, a nonprofit primary care medical clinic.

In 1995, she was elected to the board of trustees of the American Medical Association, making her both the first physician under age 40 and the first African American woman to be elected. Benjamin served as president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama in 2002 and from 2008 to 2009 served as the chair of the board of trustees of the Federation of State Medical Boards. On October 29, 2009, Benjamin was confirmed as Surgeon General.

Benjamin has been honored with many awards, including the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights in 1998, the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” in 2008, and the American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award in 2009.

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Martha Minerva Franklin

September 26, 1968 Martha Minerva Franklin, founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, died.

Franklin was born October 29, 1870 in New Milford, Connecticut. She graduated from the Women’s Hospital Training School in 1897, the only black graduate in her class, and in the early 1900s moved to New Haven, Connecticut. After two years of investigating the nursing field, she determined that although black nurses could join the American Nurses Association they were restricted from addressing the issues of segregation and discrimination.

As a result on August 25, 1908, Franklin hosted a meeting of 52 black nurses that resulted in the founding of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses with Franklin as president. The NACGN grew to an organization of 12,000 members from almost every state in the nation. By 1951, most of the groups aspirations had been met and they merged with the American Nurses Association. Franklin continued with her education and became a registered nurse with the New York Public School System.

In 1976, Franklin was posthumously inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame as one of the pioneers of the nursing field.

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Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee

September 14, 1980 Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee, physician, educator, and social activist, died.

Ferebee was born October 10, 1898 in Norfolk, Virginia. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Simmons College in 1920 and her medical degree with top honors from Tufts University Medical School in 1924. Not allowed to intern at white hospitals in Boston, Ferebee did her internship at the Black owned Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D. C.

In the late 1920s, Ferebee opened the Southeast Neighborhood House to provide medical care and other community services to poor African Americans in D. C. From 1935 to 1942, she served as medical director for the Mississippi Health Project which deployed mobile medical units throughout impoverished regions of the deep South. In 1949, Ferebee was named director of health services at Howard University Medical School, a position she held until her retirement in 1968.

Ferebee served as the international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority from 1939 to 1941, president of the National Council of Negro Women from 1949 to 1953, and vice president of Girl Scouts of the United States from 1969 to 1972. In 1959, Ferebee was the first recipient of Simmons College’s Alumnae Achievement Award. The college awards several scholarships in her name each year.

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August 1, 1993 Barbara Ross-Lee became the first African American woman to head a medical school in the United States when she was appointed dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ross-Lee was born in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biology in 1965. In 1969, after working for the In 1973, she earned a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2001, Ross-Lee became dean of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine and vice president of Health Sciences and Medical Affairs. Ross-Lee has received a number of awards, including an honorary doctorate from the New York Institute of Technology. She is also the older sister of Diana Ross.

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July 8, 1943 Alyce Faye Wattleton, the first African American and youngest president of Planned Parenthood, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

Wattleton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Ohio State University in 1964 and a Master of Science degree in maternal and infant care in 1967 from Columbia University. In 1978, she was elected president of Planned Parenthood, a position she held until 1992.

In 1986, the American Humanist Association named her Humanist of the Year and in 1993 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She currently serves as the president of the Center for the Advancement of Women.

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May 29, 2005 Hamilton Naki, South African surgical assistant and teacher, died.

Naki was born June 26, 1926 in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and was educated up to the age of 14. While working as a gardener at the University of Cape Town, Naki was selected to work in the clinical laboratory to look after animals and perform other basic duties. Over time, Naki became one of four technicians in the research laboratory at the medical school.

Despite being listed on the hospital records as a gardener, he was paid the salary of a senior lab technician, the highest pay for someone without a diploma. In the late 1950s, Naki began working with Chirstiaan Barnard while he was developing open heart surgical techniques. In an interview, Barnard called Naki “one of the great researchers of all time in the field of heart transplants’ and “Naki was a better craftsman than me, especially when it came to stitching.”

Naki went on to train students and professors on transplant techniques. Naki retired in 1991 on a gardener’s pension. In 2002, he received the National Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze and in 2003 he received an honorary degree in medicine from the University of Cape Town.

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May 1, 1976 Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, surgeon, entrepreneur and civil rights leader, died.

Howard was born March 4, 1908 in Murray, Kentucky. During his years in medical school, Howard took part in civil rights and political causes, including writing a regular column for the black newspaper in Los Angeles. He was also the president of the California Economic, Commercial and Political League which championed black business ownership and the study of black history.

In 1942, Howard became the first chief surgeon at the hospital of the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. While there, he founded an insurance company, restaurant, hospital, home construction firm, and a large farm. He also built a zoo, a park, and the first swimming pool for Blacks in Mississippi. In 1951, Howard founded the Regional Council of Negro Leadership which mounted a successful boycott of service stations that denied restrooms to blacks.

Howard moved into the national spotlight after the murder of Emmitt Till when he became heavily involved in the search for evidence and made his home the command center for witnesses and journalist. In late 1955, Howard was forced to move to Chicago due to death threats and economic pressure. There he founded the Howard Medical Center and served for one year as president of the National Medical Association. In 1971, Operation Push was founded in Howard’s home and he chaired the organization’s finance committee.

In 1972, Howard founded Friendship Medical Center, the largest privately-owned black clinic in Chicago. Howard’s biography, “Black Maverick: T. R. M. Howard’s Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power,” was published in 2009.

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August 29, 1910 Vivien Theodore Thomas, surgical technician and animal surgeon, was born in New Iberia, Louisiana.

After graduating from high school, Thomas had hoped to go to college and become a doctor. However, the Great Depression derailed his plans. In 1930, he secured a job with Dr. Alfred Blalock at Vanderbilt University. Although doing the job of a Laboratory Assistant, Thomas was classified and paid as a janitor.

In 1941, Blalock accepted the position of Chief of Surgery at John Hopkins and requested that Thomas accompany him. On November 29, 1944, using the tools adapted by Thomas from the animal lab and with Thomas at his shoulder coaching him, Blalock performed the first surgery to relieve “blue baby syndrome”. The operation came to be known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt, and Thomas received no mention.

Over his 38 years at John Hopkins, Thomas trained many surgeons that went on to become chiefs of surgical departments around the country. Thomas died November 26, 1985 and his autobiography, “Partners of the Heart: Vivian Thomas and his Work with Alfred Blalock” was published that same year. In 2004, his story was told in the HBO film, “Something the Lord Made”.

Today in African American History - The People & Events That Have Shaped Black Culture and History is a "Today in African American History" post from: Today in African American History

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