Physicians for the People: Black Doctors and the Struggle for Health-Care Equality in Alabama, 18701970 [Paperback]

WINNER OF THE JAMES F. SULZBY AWARD

Healing against the oddsBlack doctors, bold resistance, and the fight for medical justice in Alabama.

Physicians for the Peoplechronicles the remarkable stories of 241 Black doctors who practiced medicine in Alabama during the Jim Crow era. Historian Jack D. Ellis reveals the ingenuity and resilience of these trailblazing doctors who defied segregation by establishing hospitals and clinics and providing vital healthcare to underserved Black communities.

This meticulously researched work draws on archival sources, oral histories, and an unparalleled database to dismantle the myth of a monolithic medical system in the Jim Crow South. Jack D. Ellis argues that the postCivil War lives of Black physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and midwives hold special significance, illuminating both the causes of health care disparities among African Americans and the reasons for their continued underrepresentation in the medical professions.

Offering much of interest to students and scholars of Black history, medical history, and the civil rights movement,Physicians for the Peopleexposes the deliberate exclusion faced by Black doctors within the white medical establishment and their ongoing fight for racial equality in medicine.

Physicians for the Peopleis a powerful historical account of 241 Black doctors who defied segregation to provide essential healthcare in Alabama during the Jim Crow era. Drawing on oral histories, archival records, and decades of research, Jack D. Ellis reveals how these trailblazing physicians built hospitals, served underserved communities, and fought systemic exclusion from the white medical establishment. This compelling narrative sheds light on the roots of racial health disparities and honors the resilience of Black medical professionals who shaped the course of civil rights and healthcare reform.