Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D., an American historian, established Negro History Week in 1926 to focus attention on African-American contributions to the world.
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A major exhibit mounted in the lecture hall foyer celebrates the numerous accomplishments of black health care professionals past and present. Patricia L. Brown, special collections library assistant, has researched and mounted the four-panel display, which features early medical schools and hospitals, cites historical and contemporary sources, and highlights Health Science Center faculty.

“Black History Celebration: A Medical Perspective” is co-funded by the department of pathology, the Briscoe Library and the Friends of the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library. Robert L. Reddick, M.D., chair of the department of pathology, acted as consultant and Kristin C. Jones, MS-II, as liaison.

Leonard E. Lawrence, M.D., associate dean of students in the medical and dental schools and professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and family and community medicine, praised Brown for creating an “outstanding” exhibit that “states in both a simplistic yet elegant manner the role and relevance of the African-American community within health care, not just in this community but nationwide.”

“For Brown, who is retiring after 30 years of library service, this is regrettably the last of her many, fine exhibits, exhibits which have proved enormously popular among faculty, staff, and students and received recognition well beyond the Health Science Center campus,” said Penelope Borchers, librarian II in the Briscoe Library.

The exhibit will remain in place through June. A second exhibit on the fifth floor of the Briscoe Library will be displayed through the end of February.
Faculty and students who are featured include Dr. Lawrence; Charles R. Thomas, M.D., professor and vice chairman of radiation oncology; Brigitte Bailey, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry; George Kudolo, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical laboratory sciences; Lawrence B. Harkless, D.P.M., professor of orthopaedics; Rosemay Michel, D.P.M., assistant professor of orthopaedics; Bennett Amaechi, Ph.D., assistant professor of community dentistry; Beverly Robinson, Ph.D., R.N., professor and associate dean for graduate nursing in the School of Nursing; Dr. Reddick; Kanene V. Ubesie, MS-II; and Kristen Jones.

“These are just some of the individuals who could have been profiled out of the many who have served our institution with great distinction and continue to do so,” Brown said.