Black Figures in Medical History

During Black History Month, the UK College of Medicine is highlighting black figures who paved the way for an equitable future in medicine.

Henrietta Lacks (1920 — 1951) 

Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who unknowingly changed the course of medicine in America. She died in 1951, aged 31, of an aggressive cervical cancer. Months earlier, doctors at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore had taken samples of her cancerous cells while diagnosing and treating her disease. They gave some of that tissue to a researcher without Lacks’ knowledge or consent. Upon further examination, her cells turned out to have an extraordinary capacity to survive and reproduce. The researcher shared them widely with other scientists, and they became a major contributor to biological research. Today, work done with HeLa cells influences much of modern medicine; they have been involved in key discoveries in many fields, including immunology, cancer, and infectious disease research. In fact, one of their most recent applications has been in research for vaccines against COVID-19.

However, the story of Henrietta Lacks also highlights the racial inequities that are embedded in the U.S. research and health-care systems. The companies that profited from her cells neglected to pass any compensation back to her family. And, for decades after her death, many doctors and scientists repeatedly failed to ask her family for consent as they revealed Lacks’ name publicly, gave her medical records to the media, and even published her cells’ genome online. Over the past decade, scientists and the Lacks family have worked together to establish stronger rules to govern the use of these precious specimens. There is still much work to be done, but fortunately attempts are being made to draw more attention and awareness to the unknown contributors to modern medicine.



 

Mae C. Jemison, MD (born in 1956)

Dr. Mae C. Jemison has an impressive resume and has greatly contributed to the field of science. She graduated from medical school in 1981 and went on to become a medical officer with the Peace Corps in West Africa. There she managed health care for Peace Corps and U.S. embassy personnel and worked alongside the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control on several research projects, including development of a hepatitis B vaccine. After returning to the United States, Jemison applied to NASA to be an astronaut. In October 1986, she was 1 of 15 accepted out of 2,000 applicants. 

Jemison completed her training as a mission specialist with NASA in 1988. She became the first Black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Following her career as an astronaut, Jemison left NASA and founded the technology consultancy The Jemison Group as well as a non-profit organization called the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence in honor of her mother. These days, Jemison acts as a science ambassador and speaks about the need to democratize access to technology for the future of humanity. 

Solomon Fuller, MD (1872-1953)

Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller was a talented Black psychiatrist who made significant contributions to the study of Alzheimer’s disease. He was born in Liberia, the son of a previously enslaved African who had purchased his freedom and emigrated there. Fuller graduated with an MD in 1897 from Boston University School of Medicine. Solomon Fuller’s major contribution was to the growing clinical knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease. As part of his post-graduate studies at the University of Munich, Fuller researched neuropathology. In 1903 Solomon Fuller was one of the five foreign students chosen by Alois Alzheimer to do research at the Royal Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Munich. This paved the way for trailblazing research in Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Fuller was the first to translate much of Alzheimer's pivotal work into English, including that of Auguste Deter, the first reported case of the disease. He also published what is now recognized to be the first comprehensive review of Alzheimer's disease. His achievements, in a period when African-American physicians were under-represented and significantly denied equitable opportunities, show his considerable courage, talent, and innovation. 





Patricia Bath, MD (1942-2019)


In 1973, Patricia Bath, MD became the first African-American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. A Hunter College and Howard University College of Medicine graduate, she would go on to accept an internship at Harlem Hospital shortly after finishing her medical degree. During her residency at an eye clinic at Columbia University, she become aware of the differences in vision problems between the mostly Black population at Harlem and the largely white one at Columbia. These obversions led her to commit the rest of her life’s work to bringing quality eye care to those without access.
 

Shortly after finishing her residency, Bath became the first female faculty member in the Department of Ophthalmology at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute and co-found the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. By 1983, Bath had helped create the Ophthalmology Residency Training program at UCLA-Drew, which she also chaired—becoming, in addition to her other firsts, the first woman in the nation to hold such a position. 

Bath’s work with cataract patients and related research led to her work on her most well-known invention: the Laserphaco Probe. She received a patent for the probe in 1988 thus becoming the first African American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, which has singled out Dr. Bath’s achievement several times over the years, said in a 2014 news release that her work had “helped restore or improve vision to millions of patients worldwide.” She also holds patents in Japan, Canada, and Europe.  

 

 

James McCune Smith, MD (1813 — 1865) 

James McCune Smith, MD, lived an impressive life full of groundbreaking accomplishments.

In 1837, he became the first Black American to receive a medical degree, although he had to enroll at the University of Glasgow Medical School due to racist admissions practices at U.S. medical schools. While in Scotland, Dr. Smith joined the Glasgow Emancipation Society, an organization that helped to fund his education. He also completed a medical internship in Paris.
 
Dr. Smith returned to New York City, where he not only became the first Black person to own and operate a medical office and a pharmacy, but also where he quickly emerged as a powerful anti-slavery and anti-racism organizer, orator, and writer. Throughout his career Dr. Smith used his writing talents to challenge inaccurate science, including racist notions of African-Americans. He even debunked such theories in Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia.  



Rebecca Lee Crumpler, MD (1831 — 1895) 

In 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first Black woman in the United States to receive an MD. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College in Boston as the institution’s only Black graduate.
 
Dr. Crumpler moved to Richmond, Va., not long after the Civil War ended. There, she worked with other Black doctors who were caring for formerly enslaved people in the Freedmen’s Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands that provided aid to newly freed African Americans as they transitioned from slavery to freedom.

Despite facing sexism and other forms of harassment, she considered the experience to be life-changing, writing, "I returned to my former home, Boston, where I entered into the work with renewed vigor, practicing outside, and receiving children in the house for treatment; regardless, in a measure, of remuneration." 
 
Dr. Crumpler also wrote A Book of Medical Discourses: In Two Parts. Published in 1883, the book addresses children’s and women’s health and is written for “mothers, nurses, and all who may desire to mitigate the afflictions of the human race.” 

(No known photograph of Dr. Crumpler was available.)


Daniel Hale Williams, MD (1856 – 1931)

Daniel Hale Williams, MD, had a successful and noteworthy career in medicine. In 1891, Dr. Williams opened Provident Hospital, the first medical facility to have an interracial staff. He was also one of the first
 physicians to successfully complete pericardial surgery on a patient.
 
Dr. Williams would go on to become chief surgeon of the Freedmen’s Hospital. In 1895, he co-founded the National Medical Association, a professional organization for Black medical practitioners, as an alternative to the American Medical Association, which didn’t allow African-American membership.
 
Later in life Dr. Williams made annual trips to Nashville, where he spent his time as a voluntary visiting clinical professor at Meharry Medical College for more than two decades. He became a charter member of the American College of Surgeons in 1913.
 
Dr. Williams passed away in 1931 though his legacy of medical excellence continues to this day.  His work as a pioneering physician and advocate for an African-American presence in medicine continues to be honored by institutions across the world. 


Charles Richard Drew, MD (1904 — 1950) 

Charles Richard Drew, MD, was known as the “father of blood banking,” after pioneering blood preservation techniques that led to thousands of lifesaving blood donations. Dr. Drew’s doctoral research explored best practices for banking and transfusions, and its insights helped him establish the first large-scale blood banks.
 
Dr. Drew directed the Blood for Britain project, which shipped much-needed plasma to England during World War II and the first American Red Cross Blood Bank. The bloodmobiles in use today were inspired by the mobile blood donation stations he created. After protesting the American Red Cross’ policy of segregating blood by race, he ultimately resigned from the organization. 
 
Dr. Drew is most widely known for his work in blood preservation, but his true passion was surgery. He was appointed chairman of the department of surgery and chief of surgery at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he made significant efforts to support young African-Americans pursuing careers in the field.

Additonal Resources

The SNMA chapter at UK helped in the gathering of content for this feature. Learn More about SNMA at UK:
The Student National Medical Association has organizations at the local (UK), state, and national levels and is the oldest and largest student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of underrepresented race/ethnic identities. The mission further focuses on meeting the health needs of underserved communities. 
 

 

A&E Networks Television. (2021, January 7). Patricia Bath. Biography.com. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.biography.com/scientist/patricia-bath 

Genzlinger, N. (2019, June 4). Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, who took on blindness and earned a patent, dies. The New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/obituaries/dr-patricia-bath-dead.html 

A&E Networks Television. (2021, July 15). Mae C. Jemison. Biography.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.biography.com/astronaut/mae-c-jemison  

Butanis, B. (2021, November 8). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks.html  

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Mae Jemison. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mae-Jemison  

Henrietta Lacks Foundation™. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from http://henriettalacksfoundation.org/  

Heung, contributed by: C. (2021, October 12). Solomon Carter Fuller (1872-1953) •. •. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/fuller-solomon-carter-1872-1953/  

Mae Jemison. New Scientist. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.newscientist.com/people/mae-jemison/  

Mohammed, H. (2020, December 15). Recognizing African‐American contributions to neurology: The role of Solomon Carter Fuller (1872–1953) in alzheimer's disease research. Alzheimer's Association. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/alz.12183  

Nature Publishing Group. (2020, September 1). Henrietta lacks: Science must right a historical wrong. Nature News. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02494-z  

Solomon Fuller, physician born. African American Registry. (2021, August 1). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/solomon-fuller-physician-born/  

Topic: Solomon Carter fuller. Topic | Solomon Carter Fuller | The History of African Americans in the Medical Professions. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://chaamp.virginia.edu/node/3844 

Screen Shot 2022-02-09 at 1.27.10 PM.png

Share this Article

Latest Stories

Congratulations to the 2025 MVPE Awardees

UK, EKU faculty collaborators receive continuation patent for cancer research

Markey researchers to present groundbreaking cancer findings at AACR meeting

Dr. Tessa London-Bounds and Amanda Crabtree named Advocates of the Year by Society of Thoracic Surgeons
View All News