African American Doctors of World War I

In World War I, 104 African American doctors joined the United States Army to care for the 40,000 men of the 92nd and 93rd Divisions, the Army’s only black combat units. The infantry regiments of the 93rd arrived first and were turned over to the French to fill gaps in their decimated lines. The 92nd Division came later and fought alongside other American units. Some of those doctors rose to prominence; others died young or later succumbed to the economic and social challenges of the times. Beginning with their assignment to the Medical Officers Training Camp (Colored)—the only one in U.S. history—this book covers the early years, education and war experiences of these physicians, as well as their careers in the black communities of early 20th century America.

W. Douglas Fisher served for ten years as an Army and Foreign Service officer after Princeton University, and then worked in computers and banking. His grandfather’s letters and diaries of his experiences as an officer in World War I with the 92nd Division triggered Fisher’s research and writing. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Joann H. Buckley taught history and English after Longwood University and then worked in Washington, D.C., nonprofits for more than 20 years. Her grandfather was with New York’s 77th Division and her grandmother, a nurse in New York, treated the wounded returning from Europe. She lives in Florida.

W. Douglas Fisher and Joann H. Buckley
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 284
Bibliographic Info: 89 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6315-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2317-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Introduction  3
The Biographies  17
Epilogue  265
Appendix: Physicians Not Able to Serve on Active Duty and Dentists Who Did  267
Bibliography  269
Index  273

• Winner, Best Non-fiction: Military Award—Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
• “This prodigious work promises to captivate interested general readers and invite scholars to expand the seldom seen swaths of African American life at war and at home that open with the vistas of the 104 physicians”—Library Journal
• “Excellent work”—The NYMAS Review
• “Well-researched”—Watermark
• “The authors have performed a valuable bit of thoughtful, detailed research. The result is an evenhanded review of the lives of these remarkable men during a critical period of American history.”— William Hanigan, MD, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.