Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

History of Medicine

About   |  Collections   |  Exhibitions   |  Research Tools   |  Copyright   |  Get Involved   |  Visit   |  Contact

National Library of Medicine History of Medicine Division

Laboratory assistant Separating antibodies from other proteins IHM #A014721
Dental nurse with baby girl IHM #A029580

Copyright retained by the owning repository.

Repository

National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division


Address

8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20984


Telephone

1-888-346-3656
(1-888-FIND-NLM)


Website

History of Medicine:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/

Images from the History of Medicine:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ihm/

Contact Person

HMD Reference


email

NLM Support Center


Abstract

The National Library of Medicine has an extensive collection of research materials on Africans American in Science, Medicine, and the Health Professions. This material includes a comprehensive list of books with autobiographies and biographies of leading African American physicians, scientists, and nurses. There are also historical studies on black professional organizations, medical schools, hospitals, and the delivery of care to African Americans from the antebellum period through to the present. The NLM's extensive on-line collection of prints and photographs includes images of African American doctors, dentists, nurses, and nurse-midwives. These on-line images also document African Americans' contributions to public health and to scientific research.

A Guide to Resources and the National Library of Medicine's Collection on the History of African Americans in Medicine, authored by P. Preston Reynolds, MD, PhD, FACP, describes in detail this extensive collection.


title/date

Images from the History of Medicine is an online collection of prints and photographs that includes images of African American doctors, dentists, nurses, and nurse-midwives. These online images also document African Americans' contributions to public health and to scientific research.

There are three manuscript collections specifically of African Americans as health professionals. These include the papers of Dr. Leonidas Berry, an internationally recognized gastroenterologist, Dr. Paul Cornely, a renowned public health expert and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at Howard University School of Medicine. The American College of Nurse-Midwives archives also has significant related materials. In addition to these manuscript collections, the NLM has 11 oral histories conducted with African American physicians, hospital administrators, and health professionals.

The NLM also has films of leading African American physicians, including ones of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and Dr. Charles Drew, and video-taped oral histories with Dr. David Satcher, Dr. Louis Sullivan, Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. W. Montague Cobb, Dr. LaSalle Lefall, Jr. and Dr. Matthew Walker.


Guide Home | HMD Home

Last Reviewed: March 20, 2024