From anthropology to civil rights, Dr. William Montague 科布's influence went beyond medicine

During an era of discrimination and segregation, Dr. William Montague 科布 fought racism with science.

科布是一名医生, 一位人类学家, 一个老师, 一个作家, 一个编辑, 民权斗士, 还有更多.

"It's amazing how many things he kept going at the same time,”医生说。. Edward Cornwell, a trauma surgeon who considers 科布 a mentor. 康威尔是华盛顿霍华德大学医学院外科系主任, D.C.

"His intellect was just otherworldly, 他的开创性努力扩展到他的科学和医学知识的多种应用,康威尔说.

Consider these highlights from 科布's resume:

-霍华德的医学学位, 并获得体质人类学博士学位，这是美国第一位获得该学位的非裔美国人，毕业于现在位于克利夫兰的凯斯西储大学.

-在霍华德当了近半个世纪的解剖学教授，大部分沙巴足球体育平台都是担任系主任. 他还为科学研究收集了世界上最重要的骨骼收藏之一.

– Pioneer in the field of physical anthropology, which focuses on population origin, 进化与多样性, 1957年至1959年担任美国体质人类学家协会主席.

– President of the National Medical Association, a leading organization of Black physicians, and editor of its journal from 1949 to 1977.

- 1976年至1982年担任美国历史最悠久的民权组织全国有色人种协进会(NAACP)主席.

-撰写了五本书，并在学术和流行出版物上发表了1000多篇文章.

Then put those achievements against a backdrop of their times, when Black people were barred from many universities and other institutions, Black doctors were prohibited from interning or practicing at many hospitals, 黑人学者与那些认为黑人的种族使他们智力低下的错误科学观点作斗争.

科布, 谁在1990年去世，享年86岁, "was an exemplar during Jim Crow of the absolute equality of Black people,”医生说。. 迈克尔·艾特, 人类学教授, 威廉斯堡威廉玛丽学院的非洲研究和美国研究, 维吉尼亚州. "He demonstrated African American excellence in science, he demonstrated that science and activism can empower each other, 他以自己的生活方式展示了非裔美国人的光辉."

科布 was born in 1904 in Washington, D.C., where his father ran a printing business. 他毕业于马萨诸塞州阿默斯特学院，在霍华德大学获得医学学位，并获得博士学位.D. from Case Western Reserve, before spending most of his career at Howard. 科布 estimated that he helped train more than 6,000 physicians.

Alongside the professional accomplishments was a focus on civil rights. One of 科布's notable early works, a 1936 article titled "比赛和跑步者," dispelled the arguments that U.S. 奥运会冠军杰西·欧文斯的成功在某种程度上是由于非裔美国人身体上的优势和智力上的劣势.

科布是在证明(19世纪美国黑人领袖)弗雷德里克·道格拉斯100年前说过的话,布莱基说, 他和别人合写了 传记 2021年的科布. "It's not the biology that determines one's place in society. 是社会环境决定了他们的生理和地位."

科布 spent a lifetime pushing to improve those circumstances, exposing unequal levels of health care for white and Black people, 以及推动医疗设施一体化，为黑人医生和病人提供平等机会.

In 1957, 科布组织了伊姆霍特普医院整合会议，以记录种族隔离并敦促变革. 会议, named for an ancient Egyptian deity traditionally regarded as a physician, 直到1964年《沙巴足球体育平台》(Civil Rights Act)规定，接受联邦资金的公共设施都有平等的使用机会, 包括医院.

“他在解决医疗保健差距方面的努力与他在解剖学和人类学方面的努力一样有贡献,康威尔说.

布莱基说，虽然科布是非裔美国人医学界的领军人物, 他经常是白人主导的会议上唯一的黑人代表.

"He was working between those two worlds," Blakey said. "No matter what he thought, he was collegial and gentlemanly."

1955年，科布成为美国心脏协会董事会成员.

布莱基说科布的成就, 以及他争取被接受的斗争, 为后来的黑人学者和医学专家铺平了道路.

"That generation did its job," he said.

科布 and his wife, Hilda, who died in 1976, had two daughters. A 华盛顿邮报的报道 关于科布之死的报道将他描述为“一位代表许多民权事业的坚定而雄辩的发言人”和“一位黑人医学历史学家”."

康威尔说，科布是霍华德历史上几位杰出人物之一，他的遗产仍然是医学院的重要组成部分. 科布研究所, founded in 2004 and named in his honor, 促进旨在消除种族和族裔健康差异的研究和宣传.

布莱克和康威尔, both of whom spent much time with 科布 in his later years, said he remained sharp and engaged, and was not bitter about the obstacles he faced as an African American.

"He was too busy to be bitter,康威尔说.