Louis T. Wright
Louis Wright | |
---|---|
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | |
In office 1934–1952 | |
Preceded by | Mary White Ovington |
Succeeded by | Channing Heggie Tobias |
Personal details | |
Born | Oswald Garrison Villard July 23, 1891 LaGrange, Georgia, U.S. |
Died | October 8, 1952 New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged 61)
Education | Atlanta University (BS) Harvard University (MD) |
Civilian awards | Spingarn Medal |
Military awards | Purple Heart |
Louis Tompkins Wright, MD,
Early life and family
Wright was born in
Wright graduated from
He married public
Medical career
Shortly after completing medical school and moving back to Georgia, Wright joined the
Upon returning to the United States in 1919, he moved to New York amid racial tensions in Georgia to set up a private practice in
Civil rights activism and leadership
Throughout his life Wright involved himself in
Wright's work at the NAACP did not go unnoticed. For the better part of a decade, he wrote multiple columns in The Crisis, the NAACP's magazine publication.[8] The majority of Wright's work dealt with issues that are still brought up by modern black authors, such as Harriet A. Washington. Wright challenged the false beliefs that because of their biology, black people are more susceptible to infectious diseases—such as syphilis—than other races.[8]
He was a frequent leader in the struggle for integration, especially in medicine. In 1920, early in his tenure at Harlem Hospital, he played a key role in fighting the precedent in New York whereby African-American doctors and nurses were barred from serving in municipal hospitals. He actively opposed segregated hospitals, including a successful effort in 1930 to stop the construction of a new such facility proposed by the Rosenwald Fund.[4][5] In working towards equality in medicine and medical education, he advocated for raising standards for black medical students, leading to some pushback from peers who had become used to having a different set of requirements.[13]
In 1940 he was the recipient of the Spingarn Medal for "his contribution to the healing of mankind and for his courageous position in the face of bitter attack."[14]
There is no such thing as Negro health ... the health of the American Negro is not a separate racial problem to be met by special segregated setups or dealt with on a dual standard basis, but is an American problem which should be adequately and equitably handled by the identical agencies and met with the identical methods that deal with the health of the remainder of the population.
— Louis T. Wright, Address at the 1938 National Health Conference[9]
Death and legacy
Wright had chronic health problems following his war service and was hospitalized for tuberculosis from 1939 to 1942. Though he returned to medicine thereafter and was appointed chief of surgery in 1943, he never fully recovered and died in 1952 at the age of 61.[2]
Throughout his career Wright published research extensively and his research proved influential in a number of areas including antibiotic treatment, cancer research, chemotherapy, treating head injuries, and treating bone fractures.[2]
The Harlem Hospital library was renamed in his honor just before he died.[2]
"What the Negro physician needs is equal opportunity for training and practice—no more, nor less."[12]
— Louis T. Wright
Fictional portrayals
Wright is the inspiration for the character Algernon Edwards, played by actor
References
- ^ "Louis Tompkins Wright, MD, FACS, 1891–1952". American College of Surgeons. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Gates Jr., Henry Louis, eds. (2004). "Wright, Louis Tompkins". Civil Rights: An A-to-Z Reference of the Movement That Changed America. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. p. 464.
- ^ "Kenyon College". Northbysouth.kenyon.edu. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Wright, Louis T. (Louis Tompkins), 1891–1952. Papers, 1879, 1898, 1909–1997: Finding Aid". Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. June 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ PMID 10846505.
- ^ a b "Jane Cooke Wright" Archived June 21, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of World Biography (2008)
- ^ "Louis Tompkins Wright, MD, FACS, 1891–1952". American College of Surgeons. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Wright, Louis T. (1891–1952) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. January 19, 2007. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Thomas, Karen Kruse (August 11, 2014). "The Politics of Early Surgery: Review of 'The Knick'". Medpage Today. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ^ "University of Washington". Faculty.washington.edu. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ "Medicine: Negro Fellow. Time Magazine, 29th October 1934". Time. October 29, 1934. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ a b "Topic | Dr. Louis T. Wright | The History of African Americans in the Medical Professions". chaamp.virginia.edu. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ "Louis T. Wright, surgeon and NAACP Chairman – African American Registry". African American Registry. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ NAACP Spingarn Medal Archived July 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hay, Mark (September 3, 2014). "The Hygiene Fiend Who Inspired Gory New Drama 'The Knick'". Good Magazine. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ^ Gipson, Grace (September 4, 2014). "Before modern medicine there was the New York Knickerbocker Hospital ... Cinemax's New Late Summer Series, "The Knick"". The Berkeley Graduate. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014.
Further reading
- Buckely, Joann H.; Fisher, W. Douglas (2016). African American Doctors of World War I: The Lives of 104 Volunteers. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9781476663159.
- Gates Jr. Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks, eds. (2009). Harlem Renaissance Lives. From the African American National Biography. ISBN 9780195387957.
- Thomas, Karen Kruse (2011). Deluxe Jim Crow: Civil Rights and American Health Policy, 1935-1954. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820330167.