Louis Tompkins Wright was an American surgeon noted for his work in Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

. The Spingarn Medal

Spingarn Medal

The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....

list played a major role in investigating the use of Aureomycin

Chlortetracycline

Chlortetracycline is a tetracycline antibiotic, and was the first tetracycline to be identified. It was discovered in 1945 by Dr. Benjamin Duggar working at Lederle Laboratories under the supervision of Dr.Subba Rao...

 as a treatment on humans.

Wright, a native of LaGrange, Georgia

LaGrange, Georgia

LaGrange is a city in Troup County, Georgia, United States. It is named after the country estate near Paris of the Marquis de La Fayette, who visited the area in 1825. The population was 24,998 at the 2000 census...

, received his bachelor's degree from Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...

 in 1911 before getting his medical degree from Harvard in 1915. His efforts related to Civil Rights began in college when he missed three weeks of school to join picket lines protesting The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...

. He went on to graduate fourth in his class and was a Captain in the Army Medical Corps in France in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. During the war he introduced intradermal vaccination for smallpox, was gassed and won the Purple Heart

Purple Heart

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...

. On returning to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 he moved to New York, and in 1919 he became the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 on the surgical staff of Harlem Hospital. In 1934 he became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons

American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913 to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice.-Membership:...

. He worked there for thirty years, started the Harlem Hospital Bulletin, headed the team that first used Aureomycin, and founded the hospital's cancer research center. He became an expert on head injuries. He died of tuberculosis in 1952.

Wright also served as chairman of the national board of directors of the N.A.A.C.P.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...