In celebration of Black History Month, UNMC Today features a quiz about pioneering African-American medical professionals.
The first person to provide correct answers will win a prize. Send your response here.
A child of former slaves, William Augustus Hinton (1883-1959) declined an offer of a Harvard medical scholarship reserved for African-American students in order to compete for a scholarship open to students of all races. He then went on to:
- a) become the first African-American professor at Harvard.
- b) work as a consultant to the U.S. Public Health Service.
- c) work as chief of Boston Dispensary’s laboratory department, creating a pioneering program to train women as lab technicians.
- d) all of the above.
A physician, researcher, and surgeon, Charles R. Drew (1904-1950) also:
- a) developed a method for processing and storing dehydrated blood plasma, which became critically important during World War II.
- b) was the first black surgeon to be an examiner for the American Board of Surgery.
- c) attended medical school at Harvard University.
- d) all of the above
- e) a and b only
In the United States, Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first:
- a) African-American professional nurse.
- b) African-American woman to earn a medical degree.
- c) African-American woman to teach medicine at Harvard.
- d) all of the above
- e) b and c only
Information for this quiz on these pioneering African-American medical professionals was drawn from PBS’ “American Experience” website. For more information on these and other groundbreaking African-American health professionals, click here.