Black history: Remembering a barrier-breaker at UR’s medical school

During Black History Month, we recognize a wide variety of firsts, the achievements of people who overcame prejudice to be the first of their race to do a job, hold an office, lead a group.

Starting with Ada Dunbar, who is said to be one of the first — if not the first — Black settlers in what became Rochester, many of these pioneers are on our list of Remarkable Rochesterians, a roll call of people who have done Rochester proud.

A look at the list shows that many of the firsts did not come early in the city’s history.

Who's, Who in local Black history

It was 1921 before Dr. Charles Lunsford became the city’s first Black doctor. In 1947, Charles Price became the city’s first Black police officer.

Constance Mitchell, the first Black woman on the Monroe County Board of Supervisors, was elected to that group in 1961.

Then in 1963, Alice Young, who celebrated her 100th birthday last year, became the first Black educator to become a principal in the Rochester City School District.

A first who needs to be added is Dr. Edwin A. Robinson, a surgeon. (Thanks to a blog on the website boldandgritty.com for calling Robinson to my attention.)

In 1945, Robinson became the first Black graduate of the University of Rochester Medical School, a school that had existed since 1925.

Rochester's racist history

For years, as a matter of policy under the leadership of Dr. George Hoyt Whipple, its founding dean, the medical school had rejected all Black candidates.

In a form letter to Black applicants, Whipple said that it would be impossible for the school to offer them clinical training, particularly in obstetrics. Presumably, he could not envision Black caregivers treating white women.

.As the Democrat & Chronicle’s Justin Murphy has written, in 1939 a New York state commission found the school’s rejection of Black candidates to be an example of “flaunted discrimination.”

Lunsford was a lead witness before the commission, as he had long lobbied the school to admit Black students.

Given the commission’s findings, the medical school faced the loss of its tax-exempt status. Thus, to save that status, with Robinson in 1941, it began to admit Black candidates.

Robinson paved way for others

Other Black students followed him, though at first only a few were admitted. In 1972, Dr. Ruby Belton, who is on our list of Remarkable Rochesterians, became the first Black woman to graduate from the medical school.

After his graduation, Robinson practiced surgery in Rochester, and he was on the staff at Strong Memorial, Rochester General and Highland hospitals. At Highland, he served two one-year terms as president of hospital’s medical staff.

Robinson was also active in bringing Black students to UR’s medical school as chair of the school’s minority recruitment program.

Robinson died in 1972 at age 55. Two years later, Black medical students at UR held a health symposium in his memory to discuss medical issues involving the Black community.

Those issues were well known in the Robinson family. Of Dr. Edwin Robinson’s three brothers, two, Alfred and Russell, were dentists. Another, C. Harvey Robinson Jr., was a physician.

Their father, the Rev. C. Harvey Robinson Sr., was a minister. He lived in Rochester and served as a field representative raising funds for Tuskegee Institute, the historically Black college in Tuskegee, Alabama.

He was said to have received a $1 million donation from George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman Kodak Co., and, as it happened, the person who had brought George Whipple to Rochester.

Dr. Edwin Robinson, a remarkable Rochesterian

As noted, let’s add the name of this pioneering surgeon to the list of Remarkable Rochesterians that can be found at https://data.democratandchronicle.com/remarkable-rochesterians/

Dr. Edwin A. Robinson: (1917-1952): In 1945, he became the first Black person to graduate from the University of Rochester Medical School. Born in Louisiana, he grew up in Rochester and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School and Cornell University. After medical school, he was an intern or resident at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester and other hospitals, before establishing a surgical practice in Rochester. He served on the staff of Highland Hospital and other hospitals and was president of Highland’s medical staff for two years. He was on the boards of several organizations and active in recruiting Black students to UR’s medical school.

From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott, writes Remarkable Rochester, who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Dr. Edwin A. Robinson was first Black graduate of UR's medical school