Daniel J. Middleton 9/27/21 Daniel J. Middleton 9/27/21

José Celso Barbosa

José Celso Barbosa became the first Puerto Rican to earn a medical degree in the U.S. After practicing medicine for decades in his country, Barbosa emerged as a leading politician.

Daniel J. Middleton 8/9/21 Daniel J. Middleton 8/9/21

Daniel Hale Williams

Daniel Hale Williams was a pioneer in the medical field. He opened the first black-owned hospital in the United States and, in 1893, performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries in the world.

Daniel J. Middleton 5/19/21 Daniel J. Middleton 5/19/21

Onesimus

Onesimus, a Boston slave owned by Puritan minister Cotton Mathers, is credited with instituting the first recorded inoculations in the Americas.

Daniel J. Middleton 5/14/21 Daniel J. Middleton 5/14/21

Bridget “Biddy” Mason

Born a slave in 1818, Bridget “Biddy” Mason died a free woman, and the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. She was an astute businesswoman who was beloved by the people of her city.

Daniel J. Middleton 1/23/21 Daniel J. Middleton 1/23/21

Freedom House Ambulance Service

Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh’s Hill District employed highly trained black paramedics who paved the way for modern EMS standards throughout the world.

Daniel J. Middleton 6/18/20 Daniel J. Middleton 6/18/20

Black Nurses of Stillman House

With segregation at its height, and New York City blacks being pushed farther uptown from the Lower East Side, mortality rates soared and illnesses plagued their communities. That is when a registered nurse named Elizabeth Tyler decided to act.