"John Van Surly Degrasse" (June 1825-1868)

Was born in New York City,the son of George Degrasse,a prosperous landowner,and 
Maria Van Surly.After obtaining his early education in both public and private schools in New York City,he entered Oneida Institute in Whitesboro (near Utica),New York in 1840.Oneida was one of the first colleges to admit African-Americans,nurturing a strong antislavery stance.In addition to welcoming African-American students its campus,the institute invited abolitionists as lecturers and provided both a manual arts and an academic program.

In 1843 he attended Aubuk College in Paris, France.Returning to New York City in 1845, he started medical training through an apprenticeship with Dr.Samuel R.Childs.
After two years of clinical work and study under Samuel,John was admitted into Brunswick,Maine,in 1847.Finishing his medical studies with honors in two years,he received an MD in May 1849.His admission to Bowdoin's medical course had been aided and sponsored by those Americans (organized as the American Colonization Society) who wanted to create colonies of free blacks and former slaves in Africa.Their intent was to promote social equality by preparing black professionals who would then emigrate to Liberia in West Africa.This plan did not materialize.Instead,with a medical degree in hand,John returned to Europe and 
worked in hospitals in Paris and London.He continued his professional development 
as an assistant surgeon to the French surgeon Velpeau.

In 1853 John crossed the Atlantic again,this time to New York City.Prompted by the 
frequent capture of blacks under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850,John became a founding member of Vigilante Committee of Thirteen, formed by free blacks to give 
protection to fugitive slaves.

After practicing medicine in his home city for about two years,John moved to Boston,Massachusetts,where he continued his medical career.There he was quickly recognized as talented and skillful surgeon,and on August 24 1854 he was admitted into membership in the Massachusetts Medical Society,in what is believed to be the first admission of African American to a professional medical association in the United States.A Boston newspaper,the Liberator (August 24 1854),reported of John,
"Earning a good reputation here by his diligence and skill,he was admitted a member," and observed that "others of his class may be stimulated to seek an elevation which has hitherto been supposed unattainable by men of color...Many of 
our most respectable physicians visit and advise with him whenever counsel is required.The Boston medical profession,it must be acknowledged has done itself 
honor in thus discarding the law of caste,and generously acknowledging real merit,
without regard to the hue of the skin." John was viewed as one of "the most accomplished" of the African American medical pioneers in the pre-Civil War era.

An active abolitionist in Boston,John helped organize vigilante groups to intercept slave hunters on the streets of Boston during the enforcement of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law.In 1863 he volunteered to serve as a medical officer in the Union army in the Civil War.One of eight African American physicians appointed to the Army Medical Corps, he served as an assistant surgeon.His meritorious service was celebrated when Governor John Albion Andrew of Massachusetts presented him with a gold-hilted sword from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

One of several free African Americans who were formally trained in who practiced medicine in the North before the Civil War,John continued as an active physician until his death and was a recognized in the African American community in Massachusetts.