Carl Glennis Roberts, MD (1886–1950) was an American surgeon, gynecologist, and civil right leader, active in Chicago. ^{[2] [3]} He was one of the first African Americans to be elected to the American College of Surgeons; he was also a former president of the National Medical Association. ^[4]

Early life and family

Carl Glennis Roberts was born on December 15, 1886, in Roberts Settlement in Hamilton County, Indiana. ^[1] His father Carl Glennis Roberts Sr. (1837–1917) was also born at Roberts Settlement, ^[1] and his paternal great grandparents from North Carolina had established Roberts Settlement in 1823. ^[1] His maternal great grandfather was Jack Simpson, a chief of the Choctaw tribe. ^[1]

Roberts graduated from Fairmont High School and Academy, where he attended from 1901 to 1905. ^[1]

Education

He attended the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery (now Stritch School of Medicine); and Valparaiso University from 1907 to 1911. ^[1] Roberts was the first Black (or "colored") graduate from the medical school at Valparaiso University. ^[1]

After graduation, he continued his surgical studies at numerous schools, including at the Illinois Post Graduate School of Therapeutics; the Chicago Laboratory of Surgical Techniques; the Chicago Institute of Surgery; the Illinois Post-Graduate School of Operative Surgery; the University of Chicago Medical School (now Pritzker School of Medicine); and the Cook County Hospital Graduate School, Laboratory of Surgical Pathology. ^[2]

Career

In 1911, after receiving his medical degree, Roberts started a general medical practice and internship at the German American Hospital. ^[1] During World War I, Roberts organized the first African American sanitary corps for the American Red Cross, where he served as the commandant from 1918 to 1920. ^[1]

At the request of medical chief George Cleveland Hall, Roberts joined Provident Hospital in 1916 as the chairman of gynecology, and maintained this role until 1923; followed by serving as the chairman of surgery starting in 1935. ^[2] He worked as a gynecologist at Provident Hospital, from 1916 to 1920; as a gynecologist at the German American Hospital from 1918 to 1922; as a surgeon and attending staff at Chicago General Hospital from 1911 to 1928. ^{[2] [1]}

Roberts served in 1925 as the president of the Chicago NAACP. ^[1] He was the president of the National Medical Association, from 1926 to 1927. ^[1] Roberts was one of the first African Americans to be certified by the American Board of Surgery. ^{[2] [5]} Roberts also lectures at white Protestant churches on "racial relationships". ^[1]

Death

He experienced coronary thrombosis in 1941, and was said to have never fully recovered. ^[2] Roberts died of a heart attack on January 15, 1950, in Chicago. ^{[2] [6]}

After his death, the National Medical Association held a memorial in his honor at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). ^[7]

References