从人类学到民权. 威廉·蒙塔古·科布的影响超越了医学

在一个歧视和种族隔离的时代. 威廉·蒙塔古·科布用科学对抗种族主义.

科布是一名医生, 一位人类学家, 一个老师, 一个作家, 一个编辑, 民权斗士, 还有更多.

“他能同时做这么多事情，真是令人惊讶，”他说. 爱德华·康威尔，一位视科布为导师的创伤外科医生. Cornwell is the former chair of the department of surgery at Howard University's College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.

“他的智慧超凡脱俗, and his pioneering efforts extended to multiple applications of his scientific and medical knowledge,康威尔说.

看看科布简历中的这些亮点:

-霍华德的医学学位, and a doctorate in physical anthropology – the first African American in the country to earn that degree – from what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

– Professor of anatomy at Howard for nearly half a century, much of that time as department chair. He also amassed one of the world's leading collections of skeletons for scientific study.

-体质人类学领域的先驱, 哪个关注人口起源, 进化与多样性, and president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists from 1957 to 1959.

-全国医学协会主席, 黑人医生的主要组织, 从1949年到1977年担任其期刊的编辑.

– President of the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, from 1976 to 1982.

– Author of five books and more than 1,000 articles in scholarly and popular publications.

然后把这些成就放在他们所处时代的背景下, 当时黑人被许多大学和其他机构拒之门外, 黑人医生被禁止在许多医院实习或执业, and Black scholars battled false scientific contentions that their race made them intellectually inferior.

科布, 谁在1990年去世，享年86岁, 是吉姆·克劳时期黑人绝对平等的典范,”医生说。. 迈克尔·艾特, 人类学教授, Africana Studies and American Studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, 维吉尼亚州. “他展示了非裔美国人在科学方面的卓越表现, 他证明了科学和行动主义可以相互促进, and he demonstrated the brilliance of African America in the way he led his own life."

柯布1904年出生于华盛顿特区.C.他的父亲在那里经营一家印刷企业. He graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts, earned his medical degree from Howard and a Ph.D. 从凯斯西储大学毕业，之后在霍华德大学度过了他的大部分职业生涯. 科布估计，他帮助培训了6000多名医生.

在取得专业成就的同时，他还关注公民权利. 柯布最著名的早期作品之一是1936年的一篇题为"比赛和跑步者的文章，驳斥了美国政府认为.S. Olympic champion Jesse Owens' success was somehow due to African Americans' physical superiority and intellectual inferiority.

"科布 was showing what (19th-century African American leader) Frederick Douglass said 100 years before,布莱基说, 他和别人合写了 传记 2021年的科布. “决定一个人在社会中的地位的不是生理特征. It's the circumstances in society that determines their biology and their status."

科布一生都在努力改善这些状况, 揭露了白人和黑人医疗保健水平的不平等, and campaigning to integrate medical facilities and provide equal opportunities for Black doctors and patients.

In 1957, 科布 organized the Imhotep Conference on Hospital Integration to document segregation and press for change. 会议, 以古埃及传统上被视为医生的神灵命名, continued annually until the 1964 Civil Rights Act mandated equal access to public facilities that received federal funds, 包括医院.

"His efforts in addressing health care disparities were every bit as contributory as his efforts in anatomy and anthropology,康威尔说.

Blakey said that while 科布 was a leading figure in African American medical circles, he was often the sole Black representative at white-dominated meetings and conferences.

“他在这两个世界之间工作，”布莱基说. 不管他怎么想，他都很有学院派和绅士风度."

In 1955, 科布 became a member of the 美国心脏协会's board of directors.

布莱基说科布的成就, 以及他争取被接受的斗争, helped pave the way for Black scholars and medical professionals who followed him.

“那一代人完成了他们的工作，”他说.

科布和他的妻子希尔达(Hilda)育有两个女儿。希尔达于1976年去世. A 华盛顿邮报的报道 about 科布's death described him as "a persistent and eloquent spokesman in behalf of many civil rights causes" and "a historian of Blacks in medicine."

Cornwell said 科布 is one of several luminaries in Howard history whose legacies remain an important part of its medical school. 科布研究所, 成立于2004年，以他的名字命名, promotes research and advocacy aiming to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.

布莱克和康威尔, 在科布的晚年，他们俩都花了很多线上电子游戏飞禽走兽陪伴他, 说他保持了敏锐和专注, 他对自己作为非裔美国人所面临的障碍并不感到痛苦.

“他太忙了，没有线上电子游戏飞禽走兽怨恨，”康威尔说.