OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Overcoming Obstacles : The Contributions and Inspirational Legacy of Doctors Sarah and Henry Fitzbutler
( fig 1 ) William Henry Fitzbutler , MD . ( fig 2 ) Sarah McCurdy Fitzbutler , MD . ( fig 3 ) The Louisville National Medical College .
Obstacles to one ’ s career goals often present hard challenges , but systemic entry barriers to medical education based on race and gender have been the most severe and unjust . Not only were they obstacles to personal fulfillment , but they were also enormously harmful to public health , leaving large populations underserved . In the late 19th and early 20th centuries , both Blacks and women were totally excluded from Louisville ’ s thriving medical schools , a practice that mirrored schools nationwide . Then , Louisville ’ s 18,000 Black citizens were severely medically underserved – again , a mirror of nationwide neglect .
Into this void came Henry Fitzbutler , MD ( Fig . 1 ) and his wife , Sarah Fitzbutler , MD ( Fig . 2 ). Arriving to Louisville in 1872 , they repeatedly faced and overcame enormous obstacles to persevere in their lives ’ commitments . Henry became Louisville ’ s first Black physician , and Sarah was to become Kentucky ’ s first Black female medical graduate and hospital administrator . Their legacies in medical care , education access and community activism were enormous . 1 , 2
by GORDON R . TOBIN , MD
William Henry Fitzbutler was born in 1842 in Virginia to an enslaved father and indentured mother . The family escaped through the Underground Railroad to Canada . There , Henry excelled academically and became interested in medicine . He was apprenticed to a formerly enslaved Canadian physician , as apprenticeship was then the first step in a medical education . Sarah McCurdy was born in 1847 in Canada , also to a family who were expatriates from American slavery . After Sarah and Henry were married , they came to the U . S . for Henry to enroll in medical school at the Detroit Medical College . Upon graduation , he pursued further studies at the University of Michigan , becoming the first Black graduate of each school . In 1872 , the young family moved to Louisville , where Henry became the first and only Black physician to Louisville ’ s large , underserved , Black community . After several years of practice , he saw the need to expand his community service . In 1888 , he founded the Louisville National Medical College ( Fig . 3 ) and an affiliated hospital , since Black physicians were denied privileges at Louisville hospitals . Sarah became an early graduate of the school , and she then became supervisor of the hospital , which also trained nurses . In addition , she had a large practice serving the neglected community .
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