Brown, Lucy Hughes | South Carolina Public Radio

"B" is for Brown, Lucy Hughes (1863-1911). Physician. A native of North Carolina, Brown completed her medical training at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. After practicing medicine in North Carolina, she moved to Charleston and became the first black female physician in the state. She contributed to the establishment of the Cannon Hospital and Training School for Nurses in 1897, which was later, renamed McClennan-Banks Hospital. At this hospital, she headed the department of nursing training. In her classes, Brown stressed that practical experience was preferable to textbook knowledge. She also worked to advance the condition of African American women outside of medicine. Lucy Hughes Brown was a delegate to the National Colored Women’s Congress in 1895 and assisted in the creating of resolutions addressing southern race relations and demanding safer conditions on public transportation.