James McCune Smith

An Obituary of James McCune Smith from The Medical Register of the City of New York for the Year Commencing June 1, 1866 (New York, [N.Y.] : Edward O. Jenkins, 1866

From the collections of the Boston Medical Library

A son of slaves, James McCune Smith (1813-1865) was one of the most accomplished intellectuals of his time and a founder of the New York Abolition Society. "Owing to the prejudices then existing against people of color, to which the collegiate authorities unfortunately succumbed," Smith pursued his medical education in Glasgow and is the first African American to receive a formal medical degree.

He returned to New York in 1837, where he established a surgical practice, devoted himself to philanthropic endeavors and education, and worked and published for the abolition of slavery.  

James McCune Smith also contributed an introduction to Frederick Douglass' autobiographical work, My Bondage and My Freedom (New York and Auburn : Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855).  The full-text of that item is available through the Internet Archive here.