“Love Him and Let Him Go”: The American Colonization Society's James Brown—Pioneering African-American Apothecary in the United States and Liberia, 1802-1853, Part II—Liberia

Abstract

This article traces the life, career, and accomplishments of African-American Liberian emigrant James E. Brown. Born in about 1802, Brown was a longtime supporter of the American Colonization Society (ACS) and promoted emigration for African-Americans during his time both in the United States and in Liberia. Studying under the auspices of the ACS in the early 1830s, Brown apprenticed with a prominent white Washington, DC, pharmacist, becoming one of the first known formally trained African-American apothecaries. Part I of this article (appearing in <i>Pharmacy in History</i> 60, no. 3, pp. 72-88) discussed Brown’s life and travels in the United States and concluded with his family’s emigration to Liberia on the brig <i>Argus</i> in December 1833. Part II of this article recounts Brown’s career in Liberia. Brown ministered to the health needs of settlers in Liberia, both as the Colonial Apothecary and as a self-educated physician. He was also involved in Liberian politics, serving on the Monrovia town council and undertaking negotiations with native Africans on behalf of the colonial government. After the country’s independence, he served in the Liberian senate, and he encouraged the medical education of his sons. James Brown died in 1853 as one of Liberia’s most prominent citizens, but the memory of his accomplishments has since faded.