Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1825. Despite continued racism and discrimination, Augusta encouraged Black medical students This collection contains wartime letters (1861-1863) written by various members of the Garber Family of Augusta County. He testified before a Congressional Committee Mariel Tishma Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, MB Medicine, University of Toronto (1856), Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile. I therefore most respectfully request that the offender may be arrested and brought to punishment. As Augusta later recalled: [W]hen I attempted to enter, the conductor pulled me back and informed me that I must ride on the front as it was against the rules for colored persons to ride inside. Description . He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia. U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, the Navys 39th Surgeon General, celebrates the culmination of 40 years of active duty service at a retirement ceremony at the Uniformed Services University. It was on March 3, 1871, that 153 U.S. Navy physicians were officially recognized as a staff corps to parallel their professional status with other naval officers. After graduation, his applications to major Boston hospitals were rejected, so he took a position at Freedmans (Howard) Hospital.53 Here he researched the use of the Schick diphtheria test on darker skin, publishing his results and disproving those who said the test would not be effective. Pressed into service in 1863, Augusta became the first black surgeon in the U. S. Army. Date of death : 1890-12-21 Alexander was born March 8, 1825 in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Howard University was established in 1868, and Meharry Medical School opened in Nashville in 1876, both historically black medical schools. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in creative writing and a minor in biology. W. Montague Cobb, Daniel Hale Williams, 1858-1931,, Harris B Shumacker Jr, The First Suture-Closures of Cardiac Wounds in, Allen B. Weisse, Cardiac Surgery A Century of Progress,, Alisha J. Jefferson, Tamra S. McKenzie, Daniel Hale Williams, MD:A Moses in the profession,, Herbert G. Ruffin II, Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931),. Other similar indignities followed, all of them constant reminders of the countrys systemic racism. Surgeon A. T. Augusta to Major General L. Wallace, January 20, 1865, A-63 1865, Letters Received, ser. Find out more about the inauguration of the Fort McNair U.S. Army Health Clinic and its rich historydating back to the Civil War era. I have therefore been compelled to walk the distance in the mud and rain, and have also been delayed in my attendance upon the court.. Mrs. Brown, an employee of Congress and an African American, had been injured when an employee of the Alexandria, Washington, and Georgetown Railroad forcibly ejected her from a passenger car. Date of birth : 1825-03-08 Some sources claim that Augusta headed the Toronto General Hospital, but no existing records show that he even worked there. He published the first case report by a black physician in America in the New York Journal of Medicine.14 In 1846 he published a pamphlet on the effect of climate on health.15 Many of his works used medicine and statistics to combat untruths about race, and he addressed the errors and biases of the US census of 1840.16. The Army Medical Board at first rejected his request, stating he was unsuitable both because of his race and because of his Canadian citizenship. Denied admission to the University of Pennsylvania, he traveled . Another black physician, A. W. Tucker, was proposed on June 23, but was also rejected. John was born on August 27, 1935 in Worcester, MA, to Bert and Flora. And although he was omnivorous when it came to subject matter, he nevertheless had a favorite topicmedicine. The Army Medical Board reconsidered and invited him to take the examination. Dr. James McCune Smith was the first African American to earn a medical degree and practice in the United States.7 Born in 1813, Smith was the son of a self-emancipated slave.8 He began his studies at the New York African Free School.9 He was an excellent student, and was selected at age eleven to give a speech for the Marquis de Lafayette during a visit.10 Upon graduation, he was apprenticed at a blacksmith shop, but continued his education privately, learning Greek and Latin. Sadly, in his attempt at admission, he met with his first taste of the institutionalized prejudice that was quickly becoming a cancer to the Union. At the time, Augusta was the highest ranking African American officer. Alex Thomas. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 8 March 1825. At Augusta's death in 1890, he became the first black officer buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in a plot set apart from white officers' graves. Studying the lives of these pioneers is both an inspiration and a reminder. Here, he settled down temporarily, and always with an eye toward doing more than reading. In 1943, returning to Harlem, he was once again selected as chief of surgery. [6] Later he was the attending surgeon to the Smallpox Hospital in Washington in 1870. https://www.ama-assn.org/about/ama-history/history-african-americans-and-organized-medicine. Alexander T. Augusta was freeborn in Norfolk, Virginia in 1825. Highest ranked black officer during the Civil War and the first black to hold a medical commission in the Union Army. [1]. While in the military, Augusta spoke out about discrimination suffered by African Americans in society. The primary care home was also awarded an additional certification. He successfully argued that as a medical examiner he deserved more than the $7.00 per month normally given to a black enlisted man. (2022). But not everyone was impressed. to pursue their careers, which contributed directly to the early success of Howard University Medical School. Leave a message for others who see this profile. In 1956 Dr. Brown became the first single woman to be an adoptive parent in the state of Tennessee. week later, Augusta wrote to the president asking that he be appointed to one of the new colored regiments. Alexander Thomas Augusta (March 8, 1825 December 21, 1890) was a surgeon, veteran of the American Civil War, and the first black professor of medicine in the United States. He also began pursuing an education in the field of medicine. Alexander Thomas Augusta. Augusta continued to work at Freedmans Hospital and served at the Smallpox Hospital. He died in Washington on December 21, 1890. He was six years old when Nat Turner staged his violent rebellion against slaveowners in nearby Southampton County, killing up to 65 people, 51 of whom were White. Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born free in Virginia in 1825. Colored Troops, 1861-1866", database, FamilySearch (, "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (, "District of Columbia Deaths, 1874-1961," database with images, FamilySearch (, "United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968", database with images, FamilySearch (, "United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890," database with images, FamilySearch (. Do you find this information helpful? He then became the first black medical professor as one of the original faculty members of the newly formed Medical College at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1865, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, becoming the armys highest-ranking Black officer at the time. He opened a drugstore and surgical practice in the city and was the president of On 4 April 1863 he was commissioned Surgeon of Colored Volunteers with rank of major. https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/alexander-augusta.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Thomas_Augusta?msclkid=779e Geni requires JavaScript! The University of Pennsylvania would not accept him but a faculty member took interest in him and taught him privately. Died 21 Dec 1890 in Washington, District of Columbia and was buried 24 Dec 1890 in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Axel C. Hansen, African Americans in Medicine,, Karen Jordan, The Struggle and Triumph of Americas First Black Doctors,, Black History Month: A Medical Perspective., Writing Group on the History of African American. In 1853, he moved to Toronto, where he studied medicine at Trinity College. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born free in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 8, 1825. At military medical facilities all over the world, there's a good chance that a beneficiary will be treated by female physicians, but it wasn't always like that. Growing up in Baltimore, he worked as a barber while he pursued his dream of attending medical school. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. He was attending surgeon to the Smallpox Hospital in Washington in 1870. https://www.ama-assn.org/about/ama-history/history-african-americans-and-organized-medicine. In 1856, Augusta was accepted to the College of the University of Toronto. 03/08/1825 to 12/21/1890. A. W. Tucker was proposed on June 23rd but he too was turned down. Since July 3, 1863, there have been many calls for Confederate flags to be returned to their home states, and in particular, for the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment flag return to Virginia. hospital administrator in the United States. He was also appointed to lead the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in 1863, becoming the first black hospital administrator in U.S. Augusta moved to Baltimore while still in his youth. Augusta left Canada for the West Indies in about 1860, returning to Baltimore at the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. [4] On October 2, 1863, he was commissioned Regimental Surgeon of the Seventh U.S. Writing Group on the History of African Americans and the Medical Profession. Nearly 80 years later, the battle of Iwo Jima is remembered as a memorial to the fallen, their service, and the sheer grit and resilience of those Navy corpsmen who answered the call. Major Augus. There is a mulatto family on the Baltimore 1850 census of West Indies origin, head of family Augustus Burgoin, and a 25 yo Josephine Burgoin is part of this family. He helped draft petitions against anti-Black candidates for the Canadian parliament, arranged events featuring abolitionist speakers, and served as the president of the Provincial Association for the Education and Elevation of the Coloured People of Canada. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. His Bachelors of Medicine degree was awarded by Trinity Medical College. Civil War Union Army Surgeon. He was the first black officer to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. Thomas Garber's letters to his father, Albert Garber, and sister, Addie Garber, dominate the collection, and in them he describes his life in camp as a member of the 12th Va. Cav. The state had restricted rights of free people of color following the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831. [5] In March 1865, he was awarded a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel, and left the military service the following year at that rank.[2]. Gerald S. Henig, The Indomitable Dr. Augusta: The First Black Physician in the U.S. Army, 27. Dr. He was the first of eight Black officers to serve during the war. 2343, Middle Dept. Almost a century before Rosa Parks defied Alabama's racial segregation laws, Trinity graduate Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta refused to give up his seat in the "whites only" section of a Washington DC streetcar. African American Physicians & Organized Medicine: Acknowledging our Painful Legacy. Slides presented at the National Medical Association, Sponsored by the American Medical Association. Enforced as of January 1, 1863, Lincolns proclamation freed the slaves and allowed for the enlistment of Black soldiers in the Union Army. in 1869 and A.M. in 1871 from Howard in recognition of his contributions.[10][11]. Dr. Alexander Augusta is a part of US Black heritage. Colored Troops, working as senior surgeon at Camp Stanton in Maryland. "Alexander Thomas Augusta". Wini Warren, Dorothy Lavinia Brown From Orphan to Surgeon to Teacher 20. He also conducted business as a druggist and chemist. His parents were free African Americans. Volunteers, March 13, 1865, For Faithful and Meritorious Services.. From Norfolk, Virginia, as a young man Alexander Augusta first made his way to Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked as a barber. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1825. Blanchfield Army Community Hospital team members gathered to observe the 122nd anniversary of the Army Nurse Corps. (Photo: National Park Service), Dr. Alexander Augusta was the first African American to be an Army doctor. After earning his medical degree in Canada, Dr. Augusta offered his services to the U.S. military. The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. Determined to become a medical doctor, Alexander T. Augusta moved to various cities in search of employment to support his dream, finally graduating from medical school . We'll take a look at how Naval Medical Center San Diego is honoring the history of women in military medicine and their role in how far medicine has come along. The First Suture-Closures of Cardiac Wounds in, Spurlock, Jeanne. She came from a medical family; her brother was Dr. Arthur R. Logan, after whom the Arthur R. Logan Memorial Hospital is named.56. Augusta wrote again, appealing the rejection and was finally allowed to take the qualifying exam. Commissioned regimental surgeon of the 7, Regiment U.S. Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers (New York: Free Press, 1990); Herbert M. Morais, The History of the Negro in Medicine (New York: Publishers Co., 1968); http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2200/sc2221/000011/000018/pdf/d011488e.pdf. Smith then applied to medical colleges throughout New York, but was turned away because of his race.11 Black abolition and religious leaders in New York funded his education, and he traveled to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow. Gerald S. Henig, The Indomitable Dr. Augusta, 29. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1825. He was also the first African American head of a hospital (Freedmens Hospital) and the first black professor of medicine (Howard University in Washington, D.C.). On 14 April 1863, Augusta was commissioned as a major and became head surgeon But Augusta lived in an age of slavery and slave uprisings. By 1850, Augusta and his wife moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he was accepted by the Medical College at the University of Toronto where he received an M.B. But the safety and prosperity he found in his new home unfortunately didnt define the world over, and it definitely didnt match conditions for Blacks in his native land, where the election of President Abraham Lincoln had sent the country spiraling on a path to civil war. Even after the Civil War ended, Augusta and other Blacks continued to be forced to travel in the segregated section of trains. Wright enrolled at Clark University, his stepfathers school, and graduated valedictorian in 1912.50 He then applied to Harvard Medical School. Their dedication to the art and science of healing makes them a living record of the challenges many have faced in their pursuit of medicine, and role models for those who face challenges of their own today. See Photos. As a young man, he began to learn to read while working as a barber, although it was illegal for free blacks to do so in Virginia at that time. Falk, Leslie A. His father, a doctor, died while he was still young, and his mother married another physician, Dr. William Fletcher Penn.49. After establishing a successful private practice in Canada, in 1862 Dr. Augusta returned to an America on the verge of Civil War. Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in 1825 to so-called free persons of color in Norfolk, Va. A naturally intelligent boy, he was curious about the world, hungry for knowledge and improvement, and, most important, driven by an unstoppable spirit. He began his study of medicine with private tutors and next applied for admission to the University of Pennsylvania. Some were disgusted by the sight of a colored officer. In May 1863, a crowd of Whites assaulted Augusta as he took his seat on a train at Baltimores President Street depotone of the men cursing him before ripping the epaulettes from his uniform. He retired from Howard University in 1877 and continued to practice medicine until his death. He was awarded a promotion to lieutenant colonel in March 1865. He was a former resident of North Augusta, SC and Augusta, GA for 50 years. He served as the Regimental Surgeon of the Seventh U.S. While there, he encouraged African-American self-help, urged the freedmen to support independent institutions, and gained respect from the city's white physicians. African American Physicians & Organized Medicine: Acknowledging our Painful Legacy. Slides presented at the National Medical Association, Sponsored by the American Medical Association. When his white assistants, also surgeons, complained about being subordinate to a black officer, President Lincoln placed him in charge of the Freedmans Hospital at Camp Barker near Washington, D.C. Augusta wrote a letter to his commanding general protesting his segregation on trains when he left Baltimore and requested the protection of the President for other black soldiers and families In 1865, Augusta was promoted to lieutenant colonel, at the time the highest-ranking black officer in the U.S. military. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. While wearing his countrys uniform, Augusta was refused entry to a Washington streetcar by the conductor, who told him he had to ride outside. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW1-4HX, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZFZX-1QT2, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZFZX-1Q6Z, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6CW-F2L, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7TQ-VLJ, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CGYD-Z56Z, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W6ZD-DVW2, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8SW-R1V, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. Although by Virginia law blacks were forbidden to read, Daniel Payne, later a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, taught Alexander the little reading that he knew early on. Alexander Thomas Augusta, physician, army officer, hospital administrator, professor, rights activist (born 9 March 1825 in Norfolk, Virginia; died 21 December 1890 in Washington, D.C.). Shortly after landing in Baltimore, Augusta moved to Philadelphia with hopes of studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 48, Dr. Louis T. Wright was born in La Grange, Georgia. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Alexander Thomas Augusta, physician, army officer, hospital administrator, professor, rights activist (born 9 March 1825 in Norfolk, Virginia; died 21 December 1890 in Washington, D.C.). In it, he declared his right to wear the insignia of my office, and if I am either afraid or ashamed Bridgeport, CTThomas Alexander Willis, Jr, 79, died October 8, 2021 at home with his family. After earning his medical degree in Canada, Dr. Augusta offered his services to the U.S. military. Senator Wilson agreed and pressured the Army paymaster in Baltimore to apply the appropriate pay rate for his rank. They were considered eligible, but did not receive enough votes. Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library. or. He retired from Howard University in 187721 and continued to practice medicine until his death, and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.22, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was born in Pennsylvania23 and moved with his family to Baltimore, where he first became a shoemakers apprentice, then a barber in Janesville, Wisconsin.24 He then worked as an apprentice with Dr. Henry Palmer and graduated from Chicago Medical School in 1883.25 He began practice in Chicago, where he was one of only four black physicians in the city.26 In 1889 he was named to the Illinois State Board of Health, improving public sanitation to control scarlet fever, typhoid, diphtheria, and yellow fever.27 The following year Williams was approached by Reverend Louis Reynolds, whose sister had been denied admittance to nursing schools because of her race. Augusta offered his services to the United States Army and in 1863, he was commissioned as major and the Army's first African-American physician; he became the first black hospital administrator in U.S. history while serving in the army. The Struggle and Triumph of Americas First Black Doctors., Larner, Andrew. Solomon Carter Fuller, Mind Mender., Hansen, Axel C. African Americans in Medicine., Henig, Gerald S. The Indomitable Dr. Augusta: The First Black Physician in the U.S. Army., Heung, Camille. My work experience revolves around public safety, specifically with an interest and experience in Dispatching. Although no known pictures of her exist, she has been variously described as Black, Native American or mixed race. uccess stories like Augustas were largely the result of a perfect storm of human qualitiespenetrating intelligence, fearlessness and determination, persistence, and a healthy sense of righteous indignation. Nevertheless, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to plead his case and was finally accepted. Moved to Toronto in the 1850's. African American Physicians., African American Medical Pioneers,American Experience produced by. When the University of Pennsylvania refused to accept him because of his race, On June 9, 1869, Augusta and Charles Burleigh Purvis were proposed for membership of the Medical Society of DC, a branch of the American Medical Association. Just beyond the Old Post Chapel entrance gate at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., stands an obelisk headstone bearing a detailed yet spartan inscription: Commissioned surgeon of colored volunteers, April 4, 1863, with rank of Major. and segregation in Washington, D.C., where he founded the National Medical Society of the District of Columbia. People named Alex Thomas. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Paper 360. He owned valued at 10k and had 600 dollars in personal property. Augusta was born to free African-American parents in Norfolk, Virginia. Biography. As a reporter with the Evening Star observed, The appearance of a colored man in the room wearing the gold leave epaulettes of a Major, wasthe occasion of much applause and gratulation with the assembly.. I told him, I would not ride on the front, and he said I should not ride at all. Photo: Arlington Cemetery As a reporter with the. Arlington National Cemetery. A Missed Opportunity for Psychology: The Story of Solomon Carter Fuller., Warren, Wini. He was a beloved husband, father and Grandfather (PopPop). The railroad was prohibited by its federal charter from discrimination against passengers because of race.[9]. He will be remembered for his hilarious dry wit, sense of humor and his devotion to his . First African-American to hold a medical degree: brief history of James McCune Smith, abolitionist, educator, and physician., McCune Smith, James (foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr.), Morgan, Thomas M. The education and medical practice of Dr. James McCune Smith (1813-1865), first black American to hold a medical degree., Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons., Ozarin, Lucy. Augusta returned to private practice in Washington, D.C. Six years later he received a degree in medicine. Colored Infantry. In 1943 she became the first woman to perform an open-heart surgery in what was only the ninth ever open-heart operation.59 She also worked with Dr. Louis Wright on antibiotic research.60 Dr. Logan was the first woman elected a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, serving as a role model to many.61. He was fluent in Greek, Latin, and French and proficient in four other languages.
