Algernon Brashear Jackson was a columnist, author, physician, surgeon and one of the foundering members of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest African-American Greek letter organization. Jackson was born on May 21, 1878 to Charles and Sarah (Brashear) Jackson in Princeton, Indiana. His father was African … Read MoreAlgernon Brashear Jackson (1878-1942)
Senegalese scholar and scientist Awa Marie Coll Seck was born on January 1, 1951 in Dakar, Senegal. Dr. Awa Marie Coll Seck works in the field of health and disease prevention in her native country and internationally. After earning a degree in medicine from the … Read MoreAwa Marie Coll Seck (1951- )
Henry W. Furniss built a distinguished career as a doctor and diplomat. Furniss served in the diplomatic corps, first in Brazil and then as the American ambassador to Haiti. He stayed in that post through two administrations after which he returned to the United States … Read MoreHenry W. Furniss (1868-1955)
Herman Barnett, a physician, civil rights activist, and Tuskegee Airman achieved a significant number of “firsts” in Texas history. Born on January 22, 1926 in Austin, Texas, Barnett was the son of Hencil Barnett and Lula Searcy Barnett. After graduating from Phyllis Wheatley High School, … Read MoreHerman Aladdin Barnett, III (1926-1973)
Roland Scott was an American pediatrician and researcher, known for his pioneering work on sickle cell disease and his advocacy on behalf of patients impacted by the illness. Roland Boyd Scott was born on April 18, 1909 in Houston, Texas. Later his family moved to … Read MoreRoland Scott (1909-2002)
Roscoe Conkling Giles was the first African American to earn a medical degree from Cornell University, and later went on to be the first African American to become certified by the American Board of Surgery. Roscoe Conkling Giles was born on May 6, 1890, in Albany, New York to … Read MoreRoscoe Conkling Giles (1890-1970)
Jackson L. Davis III, M.D., is a retired Brigadier General in the Air National Guard. In his last assignment he was assistant to the command surgeon, Air Mobility Command, at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois from October 1996 to November 2000. He also served as the senior medical … Read MoreJackson L. Davis III (1944- )
In 2018, Dr. Odette Harris of Stanford University in California became the second African American female professor of neurosurgery in the United States, following Dr. Alexa Canady who was appointed in 1981. Harris’s research and clinical focus is on traumatic brain injury and peripheral nerve neurosurgery. Born in Jamaica in 1970, Harris took an interest … Read MoreOdette Harris (1970- )
Dr. Simeon Lewis Carson, a late-19th and early-20th century black physician, would be most known for being one of the first surgeons within Washington, D.C. to use spinal anesthesia during surgery. However, he is also renowned for his skillful use of general anesthesia throughout most of the surgeries … Read MoreSimeon Lewis Carson (1882-1954)
Although mainly known as the founder of Louisville National Medical College, Dr. Henry Fitzbutler was an exceptional physician and educator. Fitzbutler and his wife Sarah Helen McCurdy became activists in their community of Essex County, Canada and later when they returned to the United States. Henry Fitzbutler was born somewhere in Virginia on December 22, 1842. … Read MoreHenry Fitzbutler (1842-1901)
