Black Civil War surgeons get recognition in Canada

On February 9, 2023, two plaques were unveiled at Trinity College in Toronto, Canada, honoring the lives of two of the first Black physicians to attend medical school and be licensed in Canada: Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta and Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott. Chris Bateman, plaques manager at Heritage Toronto, told the AmNews, “Heritage Toronto is thrilled to add these plaques about Dr. Abbott and Dr. Augusta to our program and to mount them on the street where people can discover the stories of these remarkable men. These plaques also help ensure Toronto’s diverse shared past and lived experiences are better represented within our plaques program.”

The history of these men has gone largely unrecognized until now. According to Dr. Nav Persaud, Canada research chair in health justice at the University of Toronto, who led the effort for the plaque recognitions for Dr. Abbott and Dr. Augusta, “I only heard about Dr Augusta in the last several years, even though I studied medicine at the University of Toronto and lived at Trinity College. I hope these plaques mean that current and future students will be aware of the contributions of Black people to healthcare throughout history. I also hope people will be inspired to excellence and start to think about other stories that need to be told today.”

Abbott was born on April 7, 1837, in Toronto, Canada. His parents were Wilson Ruffin and Mary Ellen Toyer Abbott. Abbott was able to attend prominent schools both in Toronto and the United States before returning to Toronto as a medical student and Augusta’s mentee. 

According to a letter written by Abbott and now housed in the National Archives, he was intent on serving in the Civil War:

“Dear Sir, I learn by our city papers that it is the intention of the United States government to raise 150,000 colored troops. Being one of the class of persons, I beg to apply for a commission as Assistant Surgeon. My qualifications are: That I am twenty-five years of age, I have been engaged in the study of practice of medicine five years. I am a licentiate of the college of physicians and surgeons Upper Canada. A board of examiners appointed by the Governor General to examine candidates for license to practice. I am also a matriculant of the Toronto University. It is my intention to go up for my degree of Bachelor of Medicine in the spring.” 

Abbott served as a surgeon during the Civil War between 1863 and 1865 at various sites, including Freedman’s Hospital. He is widely credited with being a physician at the bedside of President Lincoln when Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, and Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, gave him the shawl that Lincoln wore at his first inauguration upon Lincoln’s death.

In 1866, Abbott  returned to Canada, started a family with his wife Mary Ann Casey, and became a pivotal member of the medical and Black communities in Toronto. He died in 1913 at the age of 76 and is buried at the Toronto Necropolis.

Augusta was another of the first licensed Black doctors in Canada. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and received his education in secret due to racist local laws and traditions that prevented the education of African Americans. In the 1840s, Augusta moved to Baltimore to begin studying medicine. After being rejected by several American medical schools that were not routinely accepting Black applicants, August moved to Toronto, Canada, with his wife Mary, who was very successful in her own right. 

According to Toronto researcher and historian Dr. Alanna McKnight, “Mary Augusta was one of the few Black women in 19th-century Toronto who owned a business. While her husband completed his medical education and ran a pharmacy, Mary ran a dressmaking shop. She advertised in the Provincial Freeman newspaper, and her shop was located very close to the Ward, where many new Canadians lived. It’s probable that she gave Black women from America their first paid employment. Her story has so far been largely eclipsed by her amazing husband, but thanks to her inclusion in the heritage plaque, her story will be known.” They moved to Canada, where Augusta studied medicine at Trinity College.  

Augusta petitioned to receive a commission as a surgeon in the Union army. He wrote to Lincoln several times after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed in 1863. It would not be until April 4, 1863, that August would finally get his coveted appointment at the rank of major.

He was assigned to the contraband hospitals in Washington, D.C.—Black individuals that escaped slavery were known as “contraband” and hospitals that were built to care for them were known as contraband hospitals. While serving at the contraband hospitals, Augusta was met with confusion and skepticism. According to a letter from Commander James J. Ferree to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, “knowing that Dr. Augusta ranked as Major and that I ranked only as Captain…I referred him to Dr. CB Webster, Surgeon in Charge of the Contraband Hospital, who being a contract surgeon was embarrassed by the same consideration.”

In addition to a constant fight for equality, both Abbott and Augusta had difficulty getting pay  commensurate with their rank.  It would not be until Augusta took their case to Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson that there would be any kind of redress of this injustice.

In another instance, Augusta was attacked by a white mob in Baltimore and defended in a published statement his right “to wear the insignia of my office, and if I am either afraid or ashamed to wear them, anywhere, I am not fit to hold my commission.”

While Abbott returned to Canada after the Civil War, Augusta remained in the United States. He became a faculty member at the newly formed Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C., and received two honorary degrees from Howard University in 1869 and 1871.

He is also noted for being instrumental in the integration of streetcars in Washington, D.C. When he died in 1890, he was the first Black officer buried at Arlington National Cemetery, America’s national military cemetery.

We cannot fully know our history if the stories we tell ourselves are incomplete.  Any accurate retelling of the history of medical care, of the Civil War, of care of others that does not include Black medical pioneers is incomplete and leaves us all with an incomplete understanding of ourselves. 

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