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)
Image Ownership: Public domain Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a retired physician and a recurrent Republican candidate for office. Fisher was born on October 21, 1947 in Durham, North Carolina, the daughter of Rev. Miles Mark Fisher, a son of a former slave and his … Read MoreAda M. Fisher (1947- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Dr. James Francis Shober was an African American doctor and the first known black physician to practice in North Carolina. Shober was born on August 23, 1853, in or near the Moravian town of Salem (now Winston-Salem), North Carolina. Shober’s father, … Read MoreJames Francis Shober (1853–1889)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Francois Fournier de Pescay was the first known African-descended physician to practice medicine and surgery in Europe. Fournier de Pescay, the son of French planter François Pescay and Adélaïde Rappau, a free mulatto (mulâtresse libre), was born on September 7, 1771 … Read MoreFrançois Fournier de Pescay (1771–1833)
“Photo Courtesy of Lavizzo Family” Dr. Philip V. Lavizzo, one of the first African American doctors to practice surgery in the Pacific Northwest, was born in 1917. Very little is known about his early life. He graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee and … Read MorePhilip V. Lavizzo (1917-1972)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Jerome R. Riley, medical doctor, author, political and civil rights activist, was born in St. Catharines, Canada West on March 17, 1840 to Isaac and Catherine Riley. His father and mother were runaway slaves who made their way from Perry County, … Read MoreJerome R. Riley (1840-1929)
Tone Johnson, medical doctor, Vietnam hero, and civic leader was born on November 9, 1944 to Lyzer (Elizabeth) Marks Johnson and sawmill worker and farmer Henry Johnson in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. After graduating from Carrie Martin High School in Plain Dealing in 1963, he went … Read MoreTone Johnson Jr. (1944– )
Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman. He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys. Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as … Read MoreBenjamin Anthony Boseman (1840-1881)
Renowned surgeon and pioneer in organ transplants, Samuel Lee Kountz was born on August 20, 1930 to Samuel Kountz, Sr. and Emma Montague in Lexa, Arkansas. He was raised in the town of Lexa, one of the most impoverished areas of Arkansas. Without a doctor … Read MoreSamuel Lee Kountz Jr. (1930-1981)
Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada’s first black doctor, was born April 7, 1837 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the son of free black property owners William Ruffin Abbott and his wife Ellen (Toyer) Abbott who left Alabama after their store had been destroyed. They settled briefly … Read MoreAnderson Ruffin Abbott (1837-1913)