Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century

University of Pennsylvania medical student Brown debuts with an eye-opening history of nine African American women in medicine. Contending that Black women “have been leaders in medicine in America for over 150 years, despite the immense barriers erected along their paths,” Brown profiles subjects including Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831–1895), the first African American woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S., only 14 months after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; May Chinn (1896–1980), whose father escaped slavery and whose skill as a piano accompanist led to performances with Paul Robeson and friendships with writers of the Harlem Renaissance as she fought to attend medical school; and Edith Irby Jones (1927–2019), the daughter of a sharecropper whose medical school education was partially funded by Thurgood Marshall. Brown’s comprehensive and moving biographies highlight each woman’s singular determination as well as the importance of community-wide sacrifice and the support of historically Black colleges and universities. Throughout, Brown interweaves illuminating statistics about the medical field with insights into her own journey as a Black woman in medicine. This immersive tribute to a group of pioneering women will inspire readers of all backgrounds. (Jan.)