5 African Americans Who Changed Medical History

February marks Black History Month and to celebrate we are building on the 2022 theme, “Black Health & Wellness”, by highlighting African Americans who have made and changed medical history. The 2022 theme, created by the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, celebrates African American scholars and medical professionals, activities, rituals, and initiatives that communities have done to stay healthy.

Learn about some of these influential men and women below:

Dr. James McCune Smith (1813-1865): Dr. McCune Smith was the first African American to earn a medical degree (M.D.) and then practice in the United States. He founded and opened the first African American-owned pharmacy. Dr. Smith was also a gifted writer and the first African American to publish peer-reviewed articles in medical journals.

Dr. Louis T. Wright (1891-1952): Dr. Wright graduated fourth in his class at Harvard Medical School. He joined the Army Medical Corps when the U.S. entered World War. During this time, Wright founded a new technique for vaccination against smallpox, called intradermal vaccination, that is used today. 

Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston (1939 - ): Dr. Gaston published a study of sickle-cell anemia that led to a nationwide test used for newborns. She was the first African American and female director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Primary Health Care. 

Dr. Jocelyn Elders (1933 - ): Dr. Elders was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as the first African American Surgeon General of the United States (and the second woman to hold this post) with a rank of Rear Admiral. She combined her clinical practice with research in pediatric endocrinology and published over a hundred papers - most dealing with juvenile diabetes.

Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller (1872-1953): Dr. Fuller was the first African American psychiatrist in the United States. He performed ground-breaking research on the physical changes to the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and published what is now recognized to be the first comprehensive review of Alzheimer's disease.

Sources: https://www.auamed.org/blog/african-american-doctors/, https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/#:~:text=2022%2D%20Black%20Health%20and%20Wellness,naturopaths%2C%20herbalists%2C%20etc, https://www.gastonandporter.org/dr-marilyn-hughes-gaston, https://chaamp.virginia.edu/node/3844, https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Inside-Science/58/Louis-Tompkins-Wright/244, https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/alz.12183, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/james-mccune-smith-america-first-black-physician-180977110/