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<\/a>Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Dr. James McCune Smith, physician and abolotionist.” New York Public Library Digital Collections<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n McCune Smith did not travel extensively during the year 1855, predominantly attending lectures, conventions, and committee meetings in and around New York City. He made at least two trips out of state, one to the Colored National Convention in Philadelphia, and the other to a convention of Radical Political Abolitionists in Boston. McCune Smith was highly esteemed by his peers, and he served as an officer and committee member at nearly every convention or meeting he attended in 1855. McCune Smith also published fairly regularly, writing as \u201cCommunipaw,\u201d the New York correspondent for Frederick Douglass\u2019 Paper<\/em> throughout 1855. Though most of his lectures and writings discussed antislavery efforts, racism among white abolitionists or the effects of the slave system, McCune Smith also addressed issues such as education and self-improvement, especially in his many written and spoken defenses of the Industrial College proposed at the Colored National Convention. McCune Smith wrote the Introduction to Douglass\u2019 My Bondage and My Freedom<\/em>, the second edition of Douglass\u2019 autobiography that was published in 1855.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ inner_width=”auto” inner_max_width=”1080px” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”80%” max_width=”1080px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Page Title” module_class=”page-header” _builder_version=”4.0.3″ text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Biography” _builder_version=”4.0.3″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” 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header_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” z_index_tablet=”500″]<\/p>\n Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. “Dr. James McCune Smith.” New York Public Library Digital Collections<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n James McCune Smith (April 18th, 1813 \u2013 November 17th, 1865) was an African American abolitionist and physician. Smith was born a slave but received his freedom on July 4th, 1827 from the Emancipation Act of the State of New York. Smith graduated from his free school in 1828 and went on to work as a blacksmith apprentice. From 1832 to 1837, Smith went to the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and in 1837 he received his MD. Smith was the first African American to receive an MD, and he returned to New York City in 1838.[note]Smith, James McCune, and John Stauffer, The Works of James McCune Smith: Black Intellectual and Abolitionist.<\/em> (New York: Oxford UP, 2006), xix.[\/note] Smith was involved with the Committee of Thirteen, which was organized by Black abolitionists from New York City including John J. Zuille who was the chair, Philip Bell, and George Downing, among others. The goal of the committee was to challenge the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 by collecting funds to benefit fugitives.[note]Harris, Leslie M. In The Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City: 1626-1863<\/em> (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003), 272.[\/note] Smith was also a member of the Radical Abolitionists group, which was an interracial group whose members included Frederick Douglass, Gerrit Smith, and John Brown. \u201cThe party advocated an immediate end to slavery, using violence if necessary; full suffrage for all men and women; and the redistribution of land so that no one would be rich or poor.[note]Smith and Stauffer, The Works of James McCune Smith<\/em>, xiv.[\/note]<\/p>\n “Adelphic Union Library Association.” The Liberator, 11 Dec. 1845. From Accessible Archives \u00a9 2016 Accessible Archives Inc.<\/p><\/div> “Medical Consultations.” The Colored American, 11 Nov. 1837. From Accessible Archives \u00a9 2016 Accessible Archives Inc.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Smith also wrote medical essays disproving theories about the bodies of African Americans. Around the same period, he wrote pasionately and lectured about the Haitian Revolution. The scholarship on Smith is minimal, but John Stauffer’s book The Works of James McCune Smith: Black Intellectual and Abolitionist <\/em>is a reliable resource. It breaks Smith\u2019s writing up by date and type and includes essays, speeches, journal entries, letters, and newspaper publications. One of Smith\u2019s first speeches is \u201cSpeech to Lafayette (1824),”[note]Ibid, 7.[\/note][note]Appendix A, 6th Document.[\/note] which the 11-year-old Smith delivered to General Lafayette when the latter visited New York City African Free-School No. 2. The speech thanks the General for first coming to the school and then for the great deeds he\u2019s done for America. The General’s response to the speech \u201cI thank you, my dear child.\u201d[note]Smith and Stauffer, The Works of James McCune Smith<\/em>.[\/note] It was clear that Smith was a promising individual.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\nBiography<\/h2>\n
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