On the recordFebruary 25, 2019
Some of the greatest contributions to medicine have been made by African Americans in this country. The first open-heart surgery in the United States was successfully completed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Black man. Not only was he a pioneer of this lifesaving surgery, but also, in the late 1800s, he opened the country's first hospital with an interracial staff, Provident Hospital in Chicago. Then, in the 1930s, Dr. Helen Dickens did her internship at Provident Hospital before becoming the first Black woman admitted to the American College of Surgeons. And then, while Dr. Dickens was doing her internship at Provident, a young Black girl growing up in segregated Arkansas dreamed of becoming a doctor. Sixty years later, in 1993, Dr. Joycelyn Elders became America's first African American Surgeon General. Mr. Speaker, Black history is not something that is in the past. It is constantly unfolding. It is American history. Our stories are being written and expanded upon all the time. That is why Black History Month is so important--not just to honor our past, but to celebrate our present and prepare for our future. ____________________
