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She contracted with the army on May 16, 1864, to serve as a nurse. Maria Mitchell was an ex-slave who served in several hospitals in and around Washington and Alexandra Virginia, including L’Ouverture Hospital and the Contraband Hospital. Augusta at the Contraband Hospital in D.C. Jane Isabella Saunders, also known as “Aunt Jane,” was hired by Alexander T. Sojourner Truth was known as a champion for the rights of women and African Americans and worked in the Freedmen’s Hospital and Freedmen’s Village to bring comfort to the soldiers during the war. Harriet Tubman was a nurse in Port Royal and aided the majority of soldiers, who had dysentery and smallpox. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Image sourced from African American Medicine in Washington, DC. He was not encouraged in his endeavor, really not desired, still in numbers he came.” Notable Civil War Nurses Sojourner Truth. Purvis’s thoughts on African Americans and their role in the Civil War were clear: “The Negro slave, guided by some altruistic power, embraced every opportunity to escape his bondage to the seat of government. While at the Freedmen’s Hospital, Purvis saw a succession of leaders including Alexander Augusta, William Powell, Caleb Horn and Anderson Abbott. He would serve from 1865 to 1869, treating mostly freedmen. He graduated from medical school in 1865 and enlisted in the Union army as an acting assistant surgeon. In 1864, Purvis began working as a military nurse at Camp Barker with ex-slaves. Purvis went to Oberlin College and attended Wooster Medical College. Charles Purvis was the grandson of James Forten Sr., the civil rights leader. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine. Image sourced from African American Medicine in Washington, DC.ĭr. Read More: African American Medicine in Washington, D.C. He did not hesitate to challenge those who stood in his way.
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Augusta, Abbott at the same time questioned the actions of Augusta when Augusta openly challenged a system which suppressed the advancement of his race.” Augusta had worked hard for his position in society and insisted that his freedom, not condescension or favor, should give him the rights accorded to any other free citizen in the United States. As Newby puts it: “In his admiration of his mentor and colleague, Dr.
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Several lower-ranking officers were perplexed as to how to deal with a higher-ranking African American officer.įriends and foes alike saw Augusta as a fighter and champion for the rights of African Americans. For many officers in the Union army, although they believed in spirit that there should be equality for all, they had few dealings with African Americans. After Augusta received his commission, he was sent to Camp Barker in Washington, D.C. On April 14, 1863, Augusta was appointed surgeon of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Augusta, “He obtained his early education by stealth from Bishop Payne, as it was then against the law to teach colored persons.” Montague Cobb, who wrote one of the definitive articles on Dr. Alexander Augusta secretly learned to read, with the help of Bishop Daniel Payne and, by the 1840s, had moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to begin studying medicine with private tutors while he worked as a barber. Part I looked at memorable achievements in medicine during World War II in Detroit.ĭr.
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This is a part of our ongoing series called Healthcare Heroes. An example of the trajectory of African Americans and their training prior to the war can be seen in Dr. Whereas pre–Civil War, African Americans wishing to pursue medicine often had to resort to studying in Canada, post–Civil War, more schools accepted African Americans.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Image sourced from African American Medicine in Washington, DC. A Civil War ambulance removing the wounded.