Fort Sumter and African-American Physicians: A Tale of Unintended Consequences

Lunch at 12:00pm • Lecture at 12:10pm Southerners went to war in 1860 to preserve their "peculiar institution," the enslavement of African Americans. It had many unintended consequences-such as the ultimate eradication of that institution--but today's focus is on how the war created a place for Black physicians to train, practice, and proliferate in American society (in spite of barriers that persist). Margaret Humphreys, MD, PhD is the author of Searching for Dr. Harris: The Life and Times of a Remarkable African American Physician (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2024). Her prior works concern the history of malaria and yellow fever in the US, and the history of medicine in the US Civil War. Dr. Humphreys shifts gears for her next project, moving into the history of medicine, nutrition and survival in polar exploration.