African American Doctors of World War I by W. Douglas Fisher

Author:W. Douglas Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2015-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

Dr. George I. Lythcott (courtesy Michael J. Lythcott).

The Lythcott brothers arrived after the riots, but the city’s stigma was there. Many other professional African Americans had left Tulsa by the time they arrived. In addition to his practice, Dr. Lythcott became director of health in the Tulsa school system and surgeon-in-chief at Tulsa Municipal Hospital #2. He was also active in the Oklahoma State Medical Society.

In 1934 he was appointed head of the new state hospital named the Oklahoma State Hospital for Negro Insane. The New York Age called him “one of the most outstanding members of the medical profession in the entire state of Oklahoma.”8 That August Leslie Beck, a hospital engineer, was on the hospital grounds and followed Dr. Lythcott. “The doctor realized he was being followed and turned just in time to ward off a blow from the pistol Beck was carrying. In the ensuing scuffle, the doctor got possession of the gun after one shot had been fired.” After Beck had been taken by authorities, Dr. Lythcott showed off a hat pierced by the bullet.9

On December 4, 1937, the New York Age reported Dr. Lythcott’s appointment for a second term as physician in charge of the hospital.10 He did not live to serve out that term. He died in Tulsa on May 1, 1938. His wife Corrine lived 30 years after his death and passed away at age 90 in 1969.

Lythcott’s son George did very well in school. Sadly, his father did not live long enough to see him follow in his footsteps and choose a career in medicine. George enrolled at his father’s alma mater, Boston University School of Medicine. He graduated and specialized in pediatrics and then, as his father had done before him, he accomplished a lot more.

In 1956 Dr. George I. Lythcott II was the first African American to be appointed to the faculty of the University of Oklahoma. He was brought in because of his work in children’s diseases and was appointed “clinical assistant in pediatrics in the university’s school of medicine.” Part of his job was to present demonstrations and lectures to the medical students.11

His son Michael tells a bit more of his father’s story. “Dad was recruited in 1965 to lead a massive smallpox eradication effort in the twenty countries of west and central Africa. Against all odds, the teams did it. They eradicated the disease from that enormous area, and they did it a year and a half ahead of schedule.”

A World Health Organization publication on smallpox includes this description of him: “An able and diplomatic administrator, Lythcott played an important role in sustaining the momentum of the program through many political and logistical crises.”12

During the Carter Administration, he was appointed the assistant surgeon general of the United States (1977–81). As Administrator of the Health Services Administration, he oversaw the largest budget and portfolio in the Department of Health and Human Services. He was a two-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, the highest-ranking African American in the public health service.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.