Booknotes: Without Concealment, Without Compromise

New Arrival:
• Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons by Jill L. Newmark (SIU Press, 2023).

Of the roughly 12,000 surgeons that served the Union Army during the Civil War, 14 were black men. Jill Newmark's Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons represents the "the first-ever comprehensive exploration of their lives and service." In the book, Newmark "presents all available information about the surgeons’ early lives, influences, education, Civil War service, and post-war experiences."

From the description: "Individual biographies bring to light Alexander T. Augusta, who challenged discriminatory laws; William P. Powell Jr., who pursued a military pension for twenty-five years; Anderson R. Abbott, a friend of Elizabeth Keckley’s; John van Surly DeGrasse, the only Black surgeon to serve on the battlefield; John H. Rapier Jr., an international traveler; Richard H. Greene, the only Black surgeon known to have served in the Navy; Willis R. Revels, a preacher; Benjamin A. Boseman, a politician and postmaster; and Charles B. Purvis, who taught at Howard University. Information was limited for five other men, all of whom broke educational barriers by attending medical schools in the United States: Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Creed, William B. Ellis, Alpheus W. Tucker, Joseph Dennis Harris, and Charles H. Taylor."

"The paths these men traveled to become military surgeons in a segregated nineteenth century army can be appreciated only by having an understanding of the era's medical education." Thus, the first chapter explores the challenges these fourteen individuals faced in obtaining the medical degree necessary to become an army surgeon during the war. Depending on the amount of source material available, the rest of the chapters are "focused on a single surgeon or on a group of surgeons who share a common element" or theme. By serving the Union Army in this respected capacity, these men "influenced change and forged new pathways for African Americans in society" (pg. 6-7).