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Organizations

Medical and Dental Associations

What was the first black medical association?

Founded in 1884, the Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia was the first established black medical society. Its formation on April 24 was the result of refusal of the white medical society to admit blacks. It would not be until the early 1950s that black physicians could join the local American Medical Association branch. A national organization for blacks would be formed in 1895, when the Medico-Chirurgical Society was reactivated and incorporated. Although three of the eight incorporators were white, by 1920 the membership was entirely black.



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