Dr.Susan was born to elite,Brooklyn parents,Ann Springstead & Sylvanus smith.She was of mixed European,African,and Shinnecock Native-American heritage.Her early education was musical.Dr.Steward entered the New York Medical College for women in 1867.She earned her M.D. in 1870,graduating as valedictorian.The next year,1871,she married Rev.William G.Mckinney with whom she had two children.
Dr.Steward professional accomplishments were numerous.She established her own-private practice in Brooklyn which she ran from 1870-1895.During this time she co-founded the Brooklyn Women's Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary which served the African-American community,completed post-graduate education at the Long Island Medical College Hospital in Brooklyn (1887-1888),practiced at
the Brooklyn Home for Aged Colored People where she also served as a
board member (1892-1895),and practiced at New York Medical College
and Hospital for Women in Manhattan (1892-1896).Dr.McKinney specialized in prenatal care and childhood diseases and gave papers on
both topics.
William died in 1892 and in 1896 Dr.McKinney married Theophilus Gould
Stewart,an ordained minister and US Army chaplain.She traveled with him for several years throughout the west earning medical licenses in
Montana and Wyoming.In 1898,Dr.McKinney was hired by Wilberforce
University in Ohio as resident physician and faculty member to teach health and nutrition.Rev.Steward joined the faculty shortly after to teach history.Dr.Mckinney remained at Wilberforce until her death 22 years later.
Dr.Smith McKinney activities included local missionary work and women's suffrage advocacy.She was president of the Brooklyn Women's Christian Temperance Union (No.6).She accomplished public speaker and in 1911 addressed the first Universal Race Congress at the University of London,UK.Her presentation was entitled "Colored Women in America." In 1914,she gave a speech,"Women in Medicine," at the
National Association of Colored Women's Club Convention.
Dr. McKinney practiced medicine for 48 years.When she died in Brooklyn,W.E.B. Du Bois gave the eulogy at her funeral.Dr.Mckinney is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery,one of the first rural cemeteries in the U.S. and internationally known for its architecture,landscaping,and history.In 1974,Brooklyn Junior High School was renamed Dr.Susan Smith McKinney Junior High School in her honor.Two years later,African American women physicians in the New York, New Jersey,and Connecticut area named their society after her to honor her life and work.
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