Renaissance Men (Agents of Medical and Cultural Modernity)

From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Medical Apartheid, the gripping, untold stories of three unsung Black physicians and their critical contributions to the field of medicine and American culture.

Between 1847 and 1952, three New York City doctors transformed medicine, catalyzed racial equity, elevated American culture, then were virtually lost to history—until now.

James McCune Smith, MD, Rudolph Fisher, MD and Louis T. Wright, MD, were by no means the only Black American scientists battling oppression. But they harbored a series of overlapping passions—an uncompromising, even militant, abolitionism; medical research that rescinded racial denigration; and literary acumen—all of which they used to drive the evolution of medicine and shape our nation. And, though not strictly contemporaries, they were also bound across time through a series of curious coincidences. Each faced obstacles that parallel those we confront today. Medical exclusion and disparagement, rampant healthcare inequities paired with housing segregation, racial abuse and police violence, lynching, the suppression of Black history —and even racial bars to higher education that mirror today’s challenges to affirmative action. These were also men of letters whose writings powerfully addressed societal issues. However, when eloquence and logic failed, they were not above the strategic taking up of arms.

A comprehensive slice of previously unrevealed history, with profound implications for the accomplishments and erasure of Black Americans, Renaissance Men sees renowned writer and scholar Harriet Washington shed light on Black physicians who have forged important medical achievements that benefit Americans of all colors. Unveiling this history reveals a powerful argument for acknowledging and supporting medical aspirants of color because in the face of our ravaged healthcare landscape, we cannot afford to throw away genius.