African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.
Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era
Heather Butts
- The
- true
- story
- of
- the
- black
- doctors
- and
- nurses
- who
- tended
- to
- Civil
- War
- soldiers
- in
- the
- capital.Just
- as
- African
- Americans
- fought
- in
- defense
- of
- the
- Union
- during
- the
- Civil
- War,
- African
- American
- nurses,
- doctors,
- and
- surgeons
- worked
- to
- heal
- those
- soldiers.
- In
- the
- nation’s
- capital,
- these
- brave
- healthcare
- workers
- created
- a
- medical
- infrastructure
- for
- African
- Americans,
- by
- African
- Americans.Preeminent
- surgeon
- Alexander
- T.
- Augusta
- fought
- discrimination,
- visited
- President
- Lincoln,
- testified
- before
- Congress,
- and
- aided
- the
- war
- effort.
- Washington’s
- Freedmen’s
- Hospital
- was
- formed
- to
- serve
- the
- District’s
- growing
- free
- African
- American
- population,
- eventually
- becoming
- the
- Howard
- University
- Medical
- Center.
- These
- physicians
- would
- form
- the
- National
- Medical
- Association,
- the
- largest
- and
- oldest
- organization
- representing
- African
- American
- doctors
- and
- patients.
- This
- book
- recounts
- the
- heroic
- lives
- and
- work
- of
- Washington’s
- African
- American
- medical
- community
- during
- the
- Civil War.
