Austin Maurice Curtis
In 1891 Curtis earned his medical degree from Northwestern, Chicago and became an intern in Provident Hospital. He became the first Black physician to be appointed as an attending surgeon at Cook County Hospital in 1896 and whilst working there, Curtis established a private surgical practice. He became a highly respected surgeon and was eventually appointed the Surgeon in Chief at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington DC.
1868
1939
USA
African American
1891- Medical Degree
1896- Cook County Hospital doctor
1898- Freedman’s Hospital
Born in 1868 in Raleigh to parents Eleanora and Alexander Curtis. He went to Lincoln University where he met his wife Namahyoke “Namah” Sockum. They married in 1888.
Earned a medical degree in 1891 and became an attending surgeon in Cook County Hospital in 1896. Curtis became the Surgeon in Chief at Freedman’s Hospital and stayed in this position for four years and then stepped down to focus on his position as a lecturer in Howard University Medical School. He rose in the ranks at Howard becoming the first Black chair and fourth chair ever of the Department of Surgery in 1928.
Became a doctor in 1891
President of National Medical Association 1910-1911
Married in 1888 to Namahyoke Sockum and then had three children named Merrill, Gertrude and Austin Curtis, two of whom became doctors .
https://aaregistry.org/story/a-doctor-of-prominence-austin-curtis/
https://galter.northwestern.edu/News/black-history-month-austin-m-curtis-md
