On the recordFebruary 8, 2022
I rise today to honor Dr. Lester Carter, who passed away on January 31, 2022, at the age of 90. Dr. Carter was a pharmacist who founded one of Milwaukee's first Black-owned pharmacies and worked there for over five decades. Dr. Carter enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean war. He was sent to the Hospital Corpsman School in Portsmouth, VA, for training in healthcare and was later assigned to the USS Tortuga for 2 and a half years. After being discharged in 1954, he attended pharmacy school at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, and became the school's first African-American graduate in 1958. Dr. Carter worked at a ``Whites only'' pharmacy in Omaha for 6 years, only being allowed to work in the backroom out of public view. After filling in at a pharmacy in Milwaukee, WI, Dr. Carter was offered a position at the store and moved to the city. He then began looking for his own store and found out about a pharmacy located on North 24th and West Burleigh where the owners wanted to retire. Dr. Carter purchased the pharmacy and set up shop in what at the time was a majority White and German neighborhood. Dr. Carter learned German phrases and quickly earned a great deal of respect and trust from his customers. During his career on Burleigh Street, Dr. Carter always welcomed everyone with a smile. He touched thousands of lives in positive ways, making time to talk and get to know his customers well. Dr.…
