Kresge Display Case Features Exhibit on African American Leaders in Public Health and Medicine from the 18th and 19th Centuries, September 28, 2007, Harvard Public Health NOW

Robert Fulton Boyd, founder of the Society of Colored Physicians and Surgeons, now the National Medical Association

The HSPH community is invited to enjoy an exhibit celebrating African American leaders in public health and medicine now on display in the corridor connecting the Kresge and FXB Buildings. The exhibit focuses on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century African Americans who played important roles in advancing medical care and breaking the color barrier, but whose stories may have been forgotten or overlooked.

Over the fall months, the display will feature a number of such leaders. For September, these include Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African American woman in the United States to earn an MD degree; David McDonough, a slave sent to medical school as a result of a wager about whether a black man had the intellectual capacity to complete medical training. He finished third in his class; and Robert Fulton Boyd, a pioneer in improving African-American health and a founder of the Society of Colored Physicians and Surgeons, now the National Medical Association. The display also contains medical instruments from the nineteenth century on loan from the Countway Library collection.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Dean's Office, the Faculty Diversity Initiative, and the Student Diversity Forum to enrich the perspectives of the HSPH community.