Smith, James McCune
1813-1865 · Contribution: 1837
First African American to earn a medical degree (University of Glasgow, 1837); also the first African American to own and operate a pharmacy in the U.S. and the first to publish in peer-reviewed medical journals
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Impact on the world
Became the first African-American to earn a medical degree, graduating from the University of Glasgow in Scotland after being denied admission to American medical schools because of his race.
Life & background
A physician, abolitionist, and writer, Smith was denied admission to American medical schools due to his race and instead traveled to Scotland, earning his medical degree from the University of Glasgow in 1837. He returned to the United States to practice medicine and became a prominent abolitionist writer and intellectual.
Sources
- Smithsonian Magazine; JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2021); University of Glasgow
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