Tag: National Medical Association

Dr. Matthew Walker Sr., M.D. (GW021)

(December 7, 1906 – July 15, 1978)

from The Greenwood Project

Dr. Matthew Walker is said to have trained more black surgeons – as many as half of those practicing at the time he died – than anyone else in the world. The son of a Pullman porter, he worked his way through New Orleans (later Dillard) University and graduated from Meharry Medical College with honors (1934), also studying at Howard University and the Mayo Clinic. He was a diplomat of the American Board of Surgeons, a fellow of the International College of Surgeons (1947), and a member of many other professional organizations. A former president of the National Medical Association, he received their distinguished service award in 1959. Walker taught surgery, gynecology, orthopedics, and pathology at Meharry, and, against the advice of his colleagues, welcomed Dr. Dorothy L. Brown and other women into the surgical residency program. The Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Centers, honoring his name and his philosophy, continue to provide health care for the poor and uninsured of all races.

Dr. Matthew Walker Sr. (Photo from Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame)


The Greenwood Project is a series of 160-word biographies of individuals who lie at rest in Mt. Ararat and Greenwood cemeteries, two historic African American burial grounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The project, which began in September 2014 (and is still available on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064806156276), shares the stories of more than 300 consequential individuals, primarily African American, who changed the course of city, state, and national history through their words and deeds. (All biographies were written by Kathy Lauder unless otherwise noted.)

Robert Fulton Boyd (GW002)

(July 8, 1855 – July 20, 1912)

from The Greenwood Project

Born a Giles County slave, Robert Boyd came to Nashville after emancipation. He worked half-days for his meals while attending Fisk. In 1880 he enrolled in Central Tennessee (later Meharry) Medical School, graduating with honors in two years. He also graduated from Central Tennessee Dental College (1886), studied gynecology at the University of Chicago (1890), and received a Master of Arts (1891). He launched a busy medical practice, taught gynecology and clinical medicine at Meharry (1893 until his death), opened a teaching hospital (1900), and was chosen president of People’s Savings Bank and Trust (1909). He was a founder and first president of the organization that became the National Medical Association. Deeply concerned about the high mortality rate among African Americans, he wrote and lectured widely on the subject, meeting with local citizens to teach them how to avoid illness and combat tuberculosis. He was so widely beloved in Nashville that his funeral had to be held in Ryman Auditorium.

Photo of Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd published in 1902. (Photo is in the public domain)

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The Greenwood Project is a series of 160-word biographies of individuals who lie at rest in Mt. Ararat and Greenwood cemeteries, two historic African American burial grounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The project, which began in September 2014 (and is still available on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064806156276), shares the stories of more than 300 consequential individuals, primarily African American, who changed the course of city, state, and national history through their words and deeds. (All biographies were written by Kathy Lauder unless otherwise noted.)