Brown Girl 'Herstory:' Pioneering physician
Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser was born on this date in 1850.
Born is Syracuse, NY, Dr. Fraser was daughter of Jermain Wesley Loguen
Born is Syracuse, NY, Dr. Fraser was daughter of Jermain Wesley Loguen
a noted abolitionist who had escaped slavery.
As her father's house in Syracuse, New York,
became an important stopping point on the underground railroad,
eventually giving shelter to approximately 1500 escaped slaves
as they traveled to safety in Canada,
Sarah gained experience from a young age
in helping to treat the injuries and illnesses they had suffered
as a result of their slavery or escape.
She decided to become a physician after seeing a young boy pinned beneath a wagon,
vowing "I will never, never see a human being in need of aid again and not be able to help."
She went on to enroll in medical school in 1873.
from Syracuse University School of Medicine and is believed to be
only the fourth African-American woman to become a licensed physician in the United States,
the second in New York, and the first to graduate from a coeducational medical school.
She went on to intern in pediatrics and obstetrics in Philadelphia and Boston
before opening her own practice in Washington, DC.
She moved to his home in the Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic
where she became the country's first female doctor and,
as her husband's income was sufficient for the family,
she was able to offer free treatment to the poor.
By law however, Sarah was only allowed to treat women and children
in the Dominican Republic because of her gender.
When her husband died in 1894,
Sarah found that the task of managing his pharmacy and plantation
as well as trying to continue her medical work was too great.
She therefore sold up and returned to the United States
with her daughter, Gregoria (born 1883),
where she found she was unable to start the private practice
she had hoped for or get her daughter into the schools
she wished due to the increased discrimination and segregationist policies
which had taken hold since the reconstruction period.
She took her daughter to a school in Paris
and when she returned to America,
she practiced pediatric medicine from her home in Syracuse, New York
and mentored black midwives.
She later moved to Washington DC to be with her sister Amelia.
the Dominican Republic declared a nine-day period of national mourning
with flags flown at half-mast.
A small park in Syracuse honors the Loguen family
while the Child Care Center at Upstate Medical University is named in Sarah’s honor.
For more information, visit: Education Academics English Fraser
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