HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL2004

Nora N. Nercessian

e Legacy of Students of African Descent at Harvard Medical School before Affirmative Action

850–968

o

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Copyright © 2004 by the President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeAll rights reservedPrinted in the United States of America

Book design and typesetting by Sidney Hall Jr.Printing by Puritan Press, Hollis, New Hampshire

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I AM GRATEFUL to many individuals whose assistance, counsel, and guid-ance made this work possible. First, to Dr. Joseph B. Martin, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, to Dr. Daniel D. Federman, Senior Dean for Alumni Relations and Clinical Teaching, and to Dr. Joan Reede, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, for their unwaver-ing support and encouragement since the inception of the idea and as the idea became a volume. A special thanks is reserved for Professor Willard B. Gatewood, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History (Emeritus) of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas; for Professor Todd L. Savitt, Department of Medical Humanities at The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University; and for the late Richard Newman, Fellow and Research Officer at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research at Har-vard University.

I remain indebted to Jack Eckert, Reference Librarian of the Rare Books and Special Collections of the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who generously gave of his time to locate resource material. His contributions to this volume are substantial. My warmest ap-preciation is extended to Mark Tomasko, Carla Fujimoto, Sidney Hall Jr., and Sarah Bruce for their insightful editorial guidance.

For their unwavering commitment, I am grateful to the staff of the Office of Alumni Affairs at Harvard Medical School: to Patrick W. Rivera, who be-gan the journey with me three years ago and stayed the course; to Anne M. Benware, for providing artistic and technical support; to Jean C. Hurd, for believing in the work and generously sharing her time and insights; and to Harvard medical students Anje van Berckelaer and Elizabeth Baca for their invaluable research. On a continuous basis and on many levels they were a source of strength and inspiration.

This section could not be complete without an expression of gratitude to all the archivists and reference librarians whose untiring efforts, cooperation, and guidance added much valuable knowledge. For providing information predating the 940s, the author would like to thank the following individuals and their respective institutions, listed by alphabetical order:

PAUL G. ANDERSON, Associate Professor and Archivist, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

F. MICHAEL ANGELO, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Thomas Jefferson University, Schott Memorial Library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

RUTH ASH, College Archivist, Pelletier Library, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania

iv AGAINST ALL ODDS

CAROLYN BAKER, Archivist, Shaw University, Raleigh, North CarolinaRICHARD J. BEHLES, Historical Librarian/Preservation Officer, Health Sciences &

Human Services Library, Baltimore, Maryland BARBARA VAN BRIMMER, Curator, Medical Heritage Center, Prior Health Sciences

Library, Columbus, OhioSYLVIA KENNICK BROWN, College Archivist, Special Collections Librarian, Williams

College, Williamstown, MassachusettsPATRICIA BURDICK, Special Collections Librarian, Miller Library, Colby College,

Waterville, MaineBARBARA BURG, Reference Librarian, Widener Library, Harvard UniversityGLADYS DRATCH, Special Collections Librarian, Gutman Library, Harvard UniversityNANCY L. ECKERMAN, Special Collections Librarian, Ruth Lilly Medical Library,

Indianapolis, IndianaJACK ECKERT, Reference Librarian, and the staff of the Rare Books and Special

Collections of the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

ERNEST J. EMRICH, Reference Specialist, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

DIANE GALLAGHER, University Archivist, Special Collections, and TIM FITZGERALD, Alumni Association, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston

IAN GRAHAM, Special Collections and Archives Assistant, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine

BARBARA GRISSOM, Assistant Archivist, Meharry Medical College Archives, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee

MARY HEADY, Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MissouriTHE STAFF OF THE HOUGHTON LIBRARY, Harvard UniversityAMEY A. HUTCHINS, Public Services Archivist, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,

PennsylvaniaPETRINA JACKSON, Assistant Archivist, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections,

Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, New YorkTINA JOHNSON, Reference Librarian, and LEIDA I. TORRES, Reference Librarian,

Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C.BARBARA KRIEGER, Archival Specialist, Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth

Medical School, Hanover, New HampshireBRENDA M. LINDSEY and many other members of the staff of the Office of the Registrar,

Harvard Medical SchoolTAMMY L. MARTIN and EDWARD G. SCHWAEGERLE, Oberlin College Archives, Oberlin,

OhioTHE STAFF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, DeGrasse-Howard

Collection, Boston, MassachusettsDAVID MCCARTNEY, University Archivist, the University of Iowa Libraries, Department

of Special Collections, Main Library, Iowa City, IowaHARRY MCKOWN, North Carolina Collection of the Library of the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

KATHI MURPHY, Reference Assistant, McGill University Archives, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

MALBOSIA MYC, Bentley Historical Library, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

PETER NELSON, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Librarian, Amherst, Massachusetts

SUSAN GUNN PEVAR, Archives of Lincoln University, Lincoln University, PennsylvaniaGAIL REDMANN, Vice-President, Research Library and Museum Collections, Historical

Society of Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C.JAY SATTERFIELD, Head of Reader Services, and SANDY ROSCOE, Special Collections

Research Center, University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IllinoisNORMAN SHOSTAK, Director of Management & Fiscal Affairs, Office of Continuing

Medical Education, Harvard Medical SchoolKATHLEEN J. SMITH, Librarian, History & Genealogy, Saint Louis Public Library,

St. Louis, MissouriAMY STEMPLER, University Archives, The George Washington University, Washington,

D.C.JASON D. STRATMAN, Library Assistant-Reference, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis,

MissouriBRIAN SULLIVAN, Senior Reference Archivist, and KYLE DECICCO-CAREY, Reference

Assistant, Harvard University Archives (Pusey)BARBARA TERRY, Coordinator, Planned Giving and Scholarships, Fisk University,

Nashville, Tennessee ANNE S. TURKOS, University Archivist, Hornbake Library, University of Maryland,

College Park, MarylandDIETER ULLRICH, Assistant Archivist, Auburn University, Auburn, AlabamaJUDITH A. WIENER, Archivist, Medical Heritage Center, Prior Health Sciences Library,

The Ohio State University, Columbus, OhioARCHIVES, YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, New Haven, ConnecticutPROFESSOR MOHAMMED YOUSUF, Reference Library, Claflin University, Orangeburg,

South CarolinaTANYA ZANISH-BELCHER, Associate Professor, Head, Special Collections, and MICHELE

CHRISTIAN, University Records Analyst, Department and University Archives, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS V

SPONSORS

r

Institutional

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTERBoston, MassachusettsTHE KATAMA GROUP

Arlington, VirginiaMOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL

Cambridge, MassachusettsOFFICE OF THE DEANHarvard Medical School

OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPSHarvard Medical School

PARTNERS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM: MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITALBoston, Massachusetts

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Individual

TENLEY E. ALBRIGHT, MDBoston, Massachusetts

BETTY AND DAN FEDERMANBelmont, Massachusetts

PAUL J. DAVIS, MDDirector, Ordway Research Institute, Inc.

Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Professor of MedicineAlbany Medical College

Albany, New YorkTAMARA R. FOUNTAIN, MD

Associate Professor of OphthalmologyRush University, Chicago, Illinois

Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeonOphthalmology Partners, Ltd

Deerfield, IllinoisCHARLES J. HATEM, MD

Professor of Medicine, Mount Auburn Hospital

(Continued next page)

(SPONSORS, continued)

EVE J. HIGGINBOTHAM, MDProfessor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology

University of Maryland School of MedicineBaltimore, Maryland

President, Harvard Medical Alumni Association, 2003–2004JOSEPH K. HURD, MD

Chairman Emeritus, Department of Gynecology, Lahey ClinicBurlington, Massachusetts

President, Harvard Medical Alumni Association, 2004–2005PAULA A. JOHNSON, MD, MPH

Chief, Division of Women’s Health and Executive Director, Connors Center for Women’s Health

and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Boston, MassachusettsKATHERINE A. KEELEY, MD

Henderson, NevadaCATO T. LAURENCIN, MD, PHD

University ProfessorLillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor and Chair

Department of Orthopaedic SurgeryProfessor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

The University of VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia

MITCHELL T. RABKIN, MD, AND ADRIENNE N. RABKINBoston, Massachusetts

BARBARA AND GEORGE THIBAULTBoston, Massachusetts

DAMION E. WICKER, MDPartner, Co-Head of Life Sciences and Healthcare Infrastructure

J. P. Morgan Partners, LLCNew York, New York

BARRY LAWSON WILLIAMSWilliams Pacific VenturesSan Francisco, California

r

ToDaniel Laing Jr.

Isaac Humphrey SnowdenMartin Robison Delany

ande Sovereignty of the Human Spirit

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS d iiiPREFACE d xvby Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhD and Daniel D. Federman, MDINTRODUCTION d xvii

Part One AN EVOLUTION OF ATTITUDES Who Was the First Graduate of African Descent at Harvard Medical School? d 3 “The Experiment” d 7 “Right and Justice . . . above Expediency” d 24 Reversal of Policy d 24 “A Scholarship for Colored Students” d 30 “Thinking of Their Own Progress…” d 32 The Longwood Years “Et Tu, Brute” d 39 “An Almost Unlimited Clinic” d 44

Part TwoBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES Biographical Sketches of Matriculants and Graduates, 850–972 d 6 Biographical Sketches of Postgraduate Students, 873–968 d 22

AppendicesAPPENDIX A Notes on the African-American Health Community in Boston in the Early 20th Century d 269APPENDIX B Matriculants and Graduates of African Descent at Harvard Medical School 850–968 d 275APPENDIX C Postgraduate Students of African Descent at Harvard Medical School 873–968 d 282APPENDIX D African-American Matriculants and Graduates by Decade (850–968/972) d 285

METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES d 286

Lives of great men all remind usWe can make our lives sublime,And, departing, leave behind usFootprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,Seeing, shall take heart again.

from A Psalm of LifeHenry Wadsworth Longfellow

PREFACE

EVERYONE LIKES HAPPY stories. They are told and retold among friends and become a common bond. Writ large, they become part of a society’s shared heritage.

But unhappy stories deserve to be told too, especially when they provide cautions or correctives for future behavior. This book is such a tale. It de-scribes the African-American experience at Harvard Medical School from the middle of the 9th century to the onset of affirmative action efforts in the late 960s. Dr. Nercessian’s punctilious scholarship has discovered many more African-American students at the School than were previously known. Their stories are told against a backdrop of events unfolding in Boston and America. As in the larger society, misunderstanding, prejudice, and hostil-ity are everywhere in the records. But so are numerous instances of per-sonal kindness and welcome. And so too are remarkable fortitude, success against terrible odds and previously unrecorded academic accomplishment and medical leadership.

The book displays remarkable historiography. The effort to prepare a com-plete record of the African-American presence at Harvard Medical School is complemented by autobiographical contributions from living alumni. Their memories include some painful experiences, but the outcomes are cause for celebration.

Dr. Nercessian is a scholar by training and not an advocate. Nevertheless, she has provided a most eloquent demonstration of exactly why continuing institutional efforts are needed to bring the contributions of all persons to the strengthening of medicine.

Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhDCaroline Shields Walker Professor of Neurobiology and Clinical Neuroscience, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Daniel D. Federman, MDCarl W. Walter Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Senior Dean for Alumni Relations and Clinical Teaching, Harvard Medical School

xv

INTRODUCTION

IN FEBRUARY 990, an exhibition entitled The Afro-American Presence in Medicine, 850–930: The Harvard Connection drew attention to a group of students of African-American descent who studied at Harvard Medi-

cal School between 850 and 930. Researched and organized by Professor Doris Y. Wilkinson, the exhibition was co-sponsored by the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research and the Widener Library at Harvard University. As the first extensive study of the group, it explored the lives of many of the earliest and best-known African-American students at Harvard Medical School and their contributions to science and medicine. Included in the exhibit were prominent physicians of African descent who had grad-uated from other medical schools and were part of the medical community in New England, including John DeGrasse, William Peter Ray, and Solomon Fuller.

This book further expands on the parameters of the exhibit and on the literature that has appeared since the 950s on some of the graduates of Af-rican descent at Harvard Medical School. It does so in three aspects. First, it includes all graduates of African descent admitted to Harvard Medical School from the earliest confirmed date to 968, when the School launched its Affirmative Action policies. Second, it takes into account not only grad-uates of these years, but all those who matriculated as degree students but left without the MD degree. Third, it includes physicians of African descent who conducted postgraduate work at Harvard Medical School and its teach-ing hospitals before 968. In so doing, this study attempts to answer a set of questions: What is the total number of students of African descent admit-ted to Harvard Medical School from the earliest confirmed date until 968? How many of this group graduated with the MD degree? How many matric-ulated but did not graduate? What were their backgrounds? Did the number of students of African descent admitted during those years remain static or did it change over time? What shape did their medical careers take once they left the School? And how did they view their experiences at Harvard Medi-cal School?

The first step in this study was to compile as complete a list as possible of all students of African descent who received all or part of their medical edu-cation at Harvard Medical School, regardless of length of stay. The famous and the ‘firsts’ were joined by the lesser known and the previously unknown.

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Next followed the search for biographical information culled from the re-cords of the Registrar’s Office and the Office of Alumni Affairs at Harvard Medical School, from archives at Harvard University and other institutions, national and international databases, scholarly publications, newspapers, and other relevant sources. In some instances, descendants, family mem-bers, and classmates provided additional information. A different approach was used for the living. Each person was invited to write his or her own bi-ography and provide that which they wished to appear in print.

The results of this research constitute the two main parts of this volume. Part One sketches the evolution of attitudes toward the education of stu-dents of African descent at the School from 850 to the late 960s. It begins with a discussion of a statement made in 850 suggesting the presence of a student of African descent at Harvard Medical School around 839. It con-tinues with the tumultuous events of December 850, which resulted in the installation of a policy of exclusion, through to the reversal of that policy fol-lowing the ravages of the Civil War, Emancipation, and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Part One ends with a discussion of the issues that surfaced in the University and the Medical School in the first half of the 20th century, when the School had relocated to the Longwood Quadrangle.

Part Two offers brief biographical glimpses of students who attended Harvard Medical School. It is divided into two sections. The first section in-cludes students who entered as candidates for the MD degree. This section is arranged by date of matriculation, beginning with the first confirmed candi-date in 850. Of the total possible number of 84 biographies, only 80 are in-cluded. Four individuals either declined or were unreachable.This group also includes the two earliest graduates of the Harvard School of Dental Medi-cine—Robert T. Freeman and George F. Grant—since their names appear in the Harvard Medical School matriculation book, in addition to the separate matriculation book of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. According to the 868–869 Annual Catalogue of the Medical School of Harvard Univer-sity, dental students also had the option to “purchase tickets and attend the remaining courses of lectures in the Medical School, and so become eligible to the degree of Doctor of Medicine.” This second clause disappeared after the 869–870 academic session, after Freeman and Grant had graduated.

The second section in Part Two consists of the biographies and autobi-ographies of 43 physicians of African descent who did postgraduate work at Harvard Medical School, listed by date of postgraduate work. The post-graduate program, or “a special course for physicians” as it was first named, was approved in 872, at a meeting in the home of Dean Calvin Ellis with members of the Faculty of Harvard Medical School and President Charles

W. Eliot in attendance. The Annual Catalogue of the Medical School of Har-vard University for 873–874 announced its purpose as “affording to those already Graduates in medicine, additional facilities for pursuing clinical, lab-oratory, and other studies, for which they had not previously found such subjects as may specially interest them . . . in the laboratories and clinics af-filiated with the School.” The conditions and privileges were explained in the Annual Catalogue:

Those pursuing this Course may elect the studies to which they will give their attention, and allot the time they will devote to each. On payment of the full fee [$200 for one year and $20 for one term] they will have the privilege of attending any of the other exercises of the Medical School, the use of its laboratories and library, and all other rights accorded by the University. They will be exempt, unless at their option, from exami-nation, and may obtain a certificate of attendance on this course of ad-vanced study. Graduates of other Medical Schools who may desire to obtain the degree of MD at this University will be admitted to examina-tion for this degree after a year’s study in the Graduates’ Course.

The “special course for physicians” was restructured several times in the subsequent decades—in 9 as the Graduate School of Medicine at Harvard University, and as “Courses for Graduates” in 99. However, the conditions and privileges remained the same, except that in 99 all fees were payable in advance at the Office of the Assistant Dean in Charge of Graduate Courses, located in the Administration Building (now the Gordon Hall of Medicine) on Longwood Avenue. In 945, the program was reorganized, placing formal instruction under the direction of department heads. This changed the ear-lier relationship between graduate students and faculty, since students were no longer under the direction of individual instructors. Between 945 and 968, the “Courses for Graduates”was significantly expanded through the es-tablishment of continuing education programs in community hospitals; it was ultimately renamed the Department of Continuing Education.

zNeither the compilation of a comprehensive list nor the construction of

biographies was without significant challenges. Degree students were iden-tified through the Registrar’s records of Harvard Medical School, Matricu-lation Books, Catalogues of Students at Harvard Medical School, the Aes-culapiads (the yearbook of the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine), and through references in various publications and resource material. For postgraduate students, the Annual Catalogue of the Medical School of Harvard University was helpful for the period between

INTRODUCTION xix

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873 and 93. During those years, postgraduate students who enrolled during the academic year and the summer session were listed along with degree stu-dents. The tradition of listing postgraduates in the Annual Catalogue stops in 93. The listing resumes only in 937, after a period of twenty-three years, and then as separate attendance lists in the office of “Courses for Graduates.” To compensate for the interruption of records, databases, and numerous re-sources have been searched. However, despite significant effort on the part of many, there can be little doubt that the names of some individuals have been missed altogether. For that, the author apologizes sincerely.

In neither section of Part Two has the intention been to recall all aspects of the lives of individuals or of their significant achievements. The biograph-ical sketches are not uniform in length, as the content of each was deter-mined by the availability of sources. The use of individual photographs was also determined by availability.

In the span of the 8 years under discussion, from 850 to 968, Harvard Medical School moved three times, each time to better and more spacious settings to accommodate the growing demand for scientific research and ad-vances in medical education. The first move, from Mason Street where it had been since 86, was to North Grove Street, adjacent to the Massachusetts General Hospital, where the School remained from 847 to 883.

When it moved again in 883, to Boylston Street, Charles Eliot had as-sumed the presidency of Harvard University and launched his well-known reform in medical education.

The School’s final move came in 906, to Longwood Avenue, where an unprecedented medical and scientific environment, carved in marble, held

Harvard Medical School on North Grove Street, adjacent to the Massachusetts General Hospital. (Photo courtesy of the Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.)

the promise of intellectual growth for all those who studied, taught, and re-searched at the School and its affiliated institutions.

zIt is hoped that Part One and Part Two together will add to a greater un-

derstanding of the environment in which medical education was offered at Harvard Medical School and the contributions the students of African de-scent made to the School. Each student brought a perspective of reality into a classroom which was, at least in the 9th century, fairly parochial. Those perspectives were as varied as they were richly textured and are reflected in the odysseys of Part Two.

INTODUCTION XXI

Harvard Medical School on Boylston Street. (Photo courtesy of the Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.)

Harvard Medical School on Longwood Avenue. (Photo courtesy of the Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.)