A case of professional exclusion in 1870. The formation of the first black medical society.

In the last half of the 19th century, medicine was becoming organized. In Washington, DC, in 1870, the attempt by black physicians to join the local medical society met with fierce and successful resistance. Ultimately, a separate, racially integrated medical society was formed. One hundred years ago, it became the still-vital Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia, the local branch of the National Medical Society.