Table Of ContentCaring for Equality
The African American History Series
This series takes both chronological and thematic approaches to topics and individuals
crucialtoanunderstandingoftheAfricanAmericanexperience.Thebooksinthisseries,
inlivelyprosebyestablishedscholars,areaimedprimarilyatnonspecialists.Theyfocus
ontopicsinAfricanAmericanhistorythathavebroadsignificanceandplacethemintheir
historical context. While presenting sophisticated interpretations based on primary
sources and the latest scholarship, the authors tell their stories in a succinct manner,
avoidingjargonandobscurelanguage.Theyincludeselecteddocumentsthatallowread-
erstojudgetheevidenceforthemselvesandtoevaluatetheauthors’conclusions.Bridg-
ing the gap between popular and academic history, these books will bring the African
Americanstorytolife.
CurrentTitlesintheSeries
CaringforEquality:AHistoryofAfricanAmericanHealthandHealthcare,byDavid
McBride
BetweenSlaveryandFreedom:FreePeopleofColorfromSettlementtotheCivilWar,by
JulieWinch
PayingFreedom’sPrice:AHistoryofAfricanAmericansintheCivilWar,byPaulDavid
Escott
AWorkingPeople:AHistoryofAfricanAmericanWorkersSinceEmancipation,by
StevenA.Reich
EnslavedWomeninAmerica:FromColonialTimestoEmancipation,byEmilyWest
LoyaltyinTimeofTrial:TheAfricanAmericanExperienceDuringWorldWarI,byNina
Mjagkij
EnjoytheSameLiberty:BlackAmericansandtheRevolutionaryEra,byEdwardCoun-
tryman
ThroughtheStorm,ThroughtheNight:AHistoryofAfricanAmericanChristianity,by
PaulHarvey
TheAfricanAmericanExperienceduringWorldWarII,byNeilA.Wynn
ToAskforanEqualChance:AfricanAmericansintheGreatDepression,byCherylLynn
Greenberg
AfricanAmericansConfrontLynching:StrategiesofResistancefromtheCivilWartothe
CivilRightsEra,byChristopherWaldrep
LiftEveryVoice:TheHistoryofAfricanAmericanMusic,byBurtonW.Peretti
BayardRustin:AmericanDreamer,byJeraldPodair
TheAfricanAmericanExperienceinVietnam:BrothersinArms,byJamesE.Westheider
A.PhilipRandolph:ALifeintheVanguard,byAndrewE.Kersten
AfricanAmericansintheJazzAge:ADecadeofStruggleandPromise,byMarkR.
Schneider
SlaveryinColonialAmerica,1619–1776,byBettyWood
BookerT.Washington,W.E.B.DuBois,andtheStruggleforRacialUplift,byJacqueline
M.Moore
Caring for Equality
A History of African American
Health and Healthcare
David McBride
ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD
Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London
PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield
AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706
www.rowman.com
UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB,UnitedKingdom
Copyright©2018byTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:McBride,David,author.
Title:Caringforequality:ahistoryofAfricanAmericanhealthand
healthcare/DavidMcBride.
Description:Lanham:Rowman&Littlefield,[2018]|Series:AfricanAmerican
historyseries|Includesbibliographicalreferences.
Identifiers:LCCN2018008806(print)|LCCN2018009169(ebook)|ISBN
9781442260603(Electronic)|ISBN9781442260597(cloth:alk.paper)
Subjects:|MESH:MinorityHealth--history|AfricanAmericans--history|
HealthServicesAccessibility--history|HealthcareDisparities--history|
Slaves--history|Racism--history|History,Modern1601-|UnitedStates
Classification:LCCRA448.5.N4(ebook)|LCCRA448.5.N4(print)|NLMWA11
AA1|DDC362.108996/073--dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018008806
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof
AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thisbookisdedicatedtothememoriesofmymother,RuthMcBride
Jordan,andmyolderbrother,William.Throughouthislifeasaphysi-
cian,Billytaughthisyoungerbrotherthatgoodmedicineisnotjusta
science,butanartandabelief.Billywasadeeplyreligiousfellowwho
wouldremindusall,ashenodoubtdidothersinhislife:“Thestepsofa
goodmanareorderedbytheLord,andhedelightsinhisway.Thoughhe
fall,heshallnotbeutterlycastdown,fortheLordupholdshimwithhis
hand”(Psalm37:23–24)
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 SlaveryandtheMedicalRoots:AfricaandtheNewWorld 1
2 BattlingforLifeintheCivilWarandNadirEras 17
3 TheBlackMedicalWorld:GreatMigrationtoNewDeal 37
4 CivilRights,HealthRights 63
5 WaronPovertyandthe“MedicalGhetto” 87
6 ConfrontingtheBlackHealthCrisis 111
7 TheAIDSEraandtheTimeofKatrina 131
SelectedBibliography 153
Chronology 159
Documents 165
Notes 179
Index 185
vii
Acknowledgments
TherearemanywhosupportedmethroughoutthemanyseasonsIworkedon
this book. Sincere thanks to Jackie Moore, Nina Mjagki, Jon Sisk, and Kate
Powers, editors at Rowan & Littlefield, for working with me to shape this
book. Jackie in particular went well beyond the standard editor’s role, pro-
viding incisive input at every step of my manuscript’s development. Mary
Gage, independentscholarandfriend, read early portions of themanuscript,
giving me valuable orientation for the later overall book. The personnel of
Pattee Library at Pennsylvania State University provided untiring help with
sifting through Pattee’s mountains of academic materials and innumerable
gateways to digital archives. It was under their expert guidance that I gar-
nered much of the factual content of this book. Also, the bibliographic re-
sources at the National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, Maryland) were in-
dispensable in my research of all aspects of this book. Last, I would like to
thank my longtime mentors and friends from Denison University: Ronald
Santoni, Henry Durand, Monroe and Sheila Little, and Catherine “Kit” An-
drews.
Thereisalargefamilyandmanyclosefriendstothankforsupportingme
throughout the years I worked on this book. Among the family: my kids,
PatriceandJulian,andtheirmother,AngelikeSimons(sadly,nowdeceased),
and siblings Andrew Dennis, Richard, Helen, Rosetta, Dotty, Judy, James,
Hunter,Henry,andKathy,aswellasnephewWilliam.Twonewadditionsto
this parade of inspiration are Mason and Mateo, my preschool-aged grand-
sons. They are in for about two decades of formal education that I hope
amplifies their inherent warmth, curiosity, and happiness. On the “second
line” of supportershavebeenin-lawsGary,Val, Eva,Rose,andkids;neph-
ew Gyasi and niece Maya; and a host of others. Additionally, I could not
have completed this book without the spirited counsel and insights of my
ix
