by Erica Hewitt | Feb 22, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
Willy T. Ribbs is rightly credited with breaking barriers as the first Black driver to qualify for the Indy 500, but another driver likely would have broken that barrier sooner – possibly more than 60 years sooner – if not for Jim Crow. A native Hoosier, Charles...
by Erica Hewitt | Feb 20, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 – 1895) was the first African American female physician in the United States. She initially trained as a nurse, learning from her aunt who was the only healthcare provider in their Pennsylvania community. The doctors Rebecca worked...
by Erica Hewitt | Feb 19, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
Before Samuel Kountz scrubbed in for a landmark surgical procedure in 1961, there was only one type of person who could possibly receive a transplanted kidney: a person with an identical twin. Kountz opened the door to wider transplant options by pioneering the use of...
by Erica Hewitt | Feb 18, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
Dr. Leonidas H. Berry (1902 – 1995) began his career when healthcare was segregated in America. He was a gastroenterologist at the Black owned and operated Provident Hospital in Chicago, the same hospital Daniel Hale Williams opened, which you read about last week!...
by Erica Hewitt | Feb 17, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
Typically, the stab wound that James Cornish received in his chest in Chicago in 1893 would have been fatal. But not this time, because Cornish had been rushed to Provident Hospital, where surgeon Daniel Hale Williams was on duty, ready to make history. Operating...
by Erica Hewitt | Feb 16, 2023 | Diversity and Justice Awareness
In 1976, during our nation’s bicentennial year celebration, President Gerald R. Ford challenged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every endeavor throughout our history.” Since then, the United...
