People, Locations, Episodes

J. Edward Perry, Doctor born

*The birth of J. Edward Perry in 1870 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American Physician.

Carrie Early Broadfoot, Nurse, and Healthcare Advocate born

*Carrie Early Broadfoot was born on this date in 1870. She was a Black nurse, and family consumer services advocate. Carrie Early was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and educated at Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, graduating in 1899. She was Superintendent from 1900-1904 and moved to Raleigh in the fall 1904 or winter of 1905. There, […]

Solomon H. Thompson, Physician born

*Solomon Thompson was born on this date in 1870. He was a Black Physician. From Charlestown, West Virginia, Solomon Henry Thompson graduated from Storer College in Harper’s Ferry, VA, and in 1892 received his medical degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1898, Dr. Thompson settled in Kansas City, Kansas, where he opened a […]

Martha Franklin, Nursing Pioneer born

*Martha Franklin was born on this date in 1870.  She was a Black nurse and activist.   Martha Minerva Franklin was born in New Milford, Connecticut, to Mary E. Gauson and Henry J. Franklin.  Her father was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War.   She graduated from Meriden Public High School in 1890 as the only Black student in her class. In […]

Henry M. Minton, Pharmacist born

Henry Minton was born on this date in 1870. He was an African American pharmacist and physician.

Justina Ford, Doctor, and Humanitarian born

*The birth of Justina Ford in 1871 is marked on this date. She was an African American physician and humanitarian.

Matilda Evans, South Carolina Doctor born

On this date we celebrate the birth of Matilda Arabelle Evans, an African American surgeon in 1872.

The Lubricator Cup is Patented by a Black Man

*On this date in 1882, Black inventor Elijah McCoy patented the Lubricator Cup. The devise dripped small amounts of oil onto moving engine parts, saving businesses time and money.

It was used with steam engines. A hollow tube projected down from the bottom of the cup into a steam chamber. There was a valve at the top end of the tube and a piston at the lower end. Steam in the cylinder activated the piston, releasing the oil. A year later, McCoy improved on his original model so that oil was released only when there was no longer steam in the chamber.

Solomon Fuller, Physician born

*Solomon Fuller was born on this date in 1872.  He was a Black Liberian physician, psychiatrist, pathologist, and professor.  Solomon Carter Fuller was born in Monrovia, Liberia, to Americo-Liberian parents. His father, Solomon, had become a coffee planter and government official in Liberia. His mother, Anna Ursula James, was the daughter of physicians and medical […]

Ionia Rollin Whipper, Obstetrician born

*Ionia Rollin Whipper was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black obstetrician and public health outreach worker.   Both of Whipper’s parents were from Beaufort, South Carolina, and were from Black families that had been free before the American Civil War. Her father, the lawyer William James Whipper, moved from Philadelphia to […]

John Alcindor, Doctor and Activist born

*John Alcindor was born on this date in 1873.  He was a Black British physician and activist. John Alcindor was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and educated at Saint Mary’s College. After winning one of the four Island Scholarships, he studied medicine at Edinburgh University, Scotland, graduating with a medical degree in 1899. He […]

Ludie Clay Andrews, Nurse, and Nursing Advocate born

*Ludie Clay Andrews was born on this date in 1874. She was a Black nurse and administrator. Ludie Clay Andrews, a Mulatto was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she graduated from Eddy High School. Shortly after, she entered into nurse training at MacVicar Hospital at Spelman College in Atlanta, graduating in 1906. Spelman College later closed its […]

Rivers Frederick, Physician born

On this date in 1874, Rivers Frederick, an African American physician, was born in New Roads, Pionte Coupee’ Parish, LA.

Frederick graduated from the University of New Orleans and earned his M.D. from the University of Illinois in 1897. He spent the next two years as a surgical clinician in Chicago, returning to New Orleans to begin a private practice. Responding to the lack of real opportunities for Black doctors in the United States, Frederick moved to Honduras in 1901.

Herbert Scrulock, Bio-Chemist born

*The birth of Herbert C. Scurlock in 1875 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American biochemist who pioneered the application of radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and the use of x-ray to diagnose dental problems.

Meharry Medical College is Founded

This date celebrates the founding of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. It is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Meharry Medical College was founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College of Nashville , under the auspices of the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1900, Central Tennessee College became Walden University, and by 1915, the college gained a separate corporate existence from the university.