Surgeons to the Poor: The Harlem Hospital Story

Abstract

In 1926, Aubre Maynard was one of the first three black interns appointed to the Harlem Hospital. That municipal hospital, serving an almost completely black community, hitherto had had an almost entirely white staff. Dr Maynard's whole professional life was associated with the hospital, where he finally became surgeon in chief and, after the hospital was affiliated with Columbia University, clinical professor of surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Maynard tells the story of his own struggles and growth, as well as those of the hospital. Race relations, political manipulations, the medical problems of a ghetto community, personal jealousies, and honest differences of opinion all enter into this story of four decades of conflict and effort. The result is a large teaching hospital, where outstanding work is being done by an integrated though largely black staff. This is an exciting history, well told. It should interest a wide