Scranton’s First Black Doctor
Today as we navigate the racialized impact of Covid-19 and the demand for racial justice and equity by the Black Live Matter movement, We felt this individual’s legacy was too inspiring and too timely... Meet Scranton’s First Black Physician, Dr. James E. Foster
DR. JAMES E. FOSTER (1880-1949)
Studied at Yale University and received his doctorate in medicine from Howard University in 1903. He practiced in Harrisburg for a few years before moving to Scranton. He had private practice and offices in downtown Scranton. Dr. Foster had an impressive 35 year career in the field of medicine. He was one of the city’s leading doctors during the 1918 flu pandemic.
The 1918 flu infected 500 million people worldwide and resulted in 50 million deaths around the globe, 675,000 of which were Americans. But while viruses don’t discriminate, people do. In cities across the nation, black people struck by the flu were often left to fend for themselves.
Newspaper clipping: Scranton Tribune, December 1918
Although infection rate was much less in AA during the 1918 pandemic, it still overwhelmed their medical and public health resources. Racist theories claiming biological inferiority of black people affected the quality of care and medicine which increased their susceptibility to disease and illness.
Black physicians, Dr. James E. Foster included, fiercely contested such theories and stressed that African American health disparities reflected socioeconomic inequalities, not physiological and biological differences or inferiority.
During the 1918 influenza epidemic, Black communities were already battling many challenges in the realm of public health, and social problems, like racist theories claiming biological inferiority of black people and the racial barriers in health care and medicine which contribute to increased susceptibility to disease and illness.
National Negro Health Week was created in 1915 and it was the largest and most significant campaign that focused on educating black communities throughout America on methods of acquiring health care and informing students on proper health practices.
Dr. Foster is the reason why National Negro Health Week was recognized in our city .Dr. Foster was leading conversations and advocating for programs that supported the health and wellness of African Americans not just in Scranton, but throughout Northeastern Penn. In fact, Dr. Foster was a chairman of the National Negro Health Commission. He organized, facilitated, and oversaw many of the programs that took place across the region.
National Negro Health Week poster published by the U.S. Public Health Service in cooperation with the National Negro Health Week Committee, Tuskegee Institute, 1929. Courtesy of Tuskegee University Archives.
Dr. James E. Foster was our city's first black physician who was saving lives in the midst of a national health crisis and was successful at it. He was praised for having “lowest death rate of any doctor in the city.”
In addition to being on the frontlines of a global pandemic, he often spoke publicly and unapologetically about racial inequalities and inequities that disenfranchised Black Scrantonians. Dr. Foster wanted to build a foundation for our black community. He was one of the folks (more than century ago) that believed in the importance of creating spaces for black residents - In fact, it was his idea to create a black community center, the Progressive Civic and Recreation Association, better known as the progressive center today.
Dr. Foster passed away in August of 1949 at the age of 69. He loved the city of Scranton, and invested a lot of time, energy, and his own resources to ensure that Black Scrantonians could thrive in all aspects of life for generations to come.
