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WOTW: Lucy Hughes Brown



Born in 1863, Lucy Hughes Brown became the first African American female physician in North and South Carolina. Brown enjoyed poetry and activism, and she attended the Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia- which was one of the first colleges ever to award medical degrees to women.


Brown originally lived in North Carolina with her husband, where she became the first African American woman in the state to practice medicine. After two years, she moved to South Carolina, and also became the first African American woman to practice medicine there as well! She grew frustrated at the lack of opportunities for African Americans in the medical field and co-founded the Hospital and Training School for Nurses in 1897. This was the first hospital with training available for black nurses. Dr. Brown led the department for the nurses’ training, where nurses were given lessons and got important hands-on experience. Additionally, Dr. Brown was a delegate in the National Colored Woman’s Congress at the 1895 Atlanta Exposition, where she attempted to improve the conditions for African American women in society as a whole.


From her accomplishments in the medical field to her political involvement, Lucy Hughes Brown was quite the inspiration. The Hospital and Training School for Nurses was renamed the McClennan-Banks Memorial Hospital but was unfortunately shut down. Though her hospital has closed, it is important to remember Dr. Brown for her leadership in her field. As generations pass, it is of utmost importance to remember the people who have made it possible for women of color to succeed.




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