Augustus A. White III (Class of 1957) documents relating to his career as a surgeon during the Vietnam War

This collection contains magazine articles and photographs related to the career of Augustus A. White III (Brown, Class of 1957) as an orthopedic surgeon. He is a Vietnam Veteran. He served 2 years as an army surgeon a year of which, August 1966-August 1967, he was stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam. During that year he also volunteered during his off-duty time at the St. Francis Leprosarium run by Catholic nuns in a nearby village where he treated patients fighting leprosy. He went on to have a distinguished career as the first African American to graduate from Stanford Medical School in 1961 and held positions in orthopedic surgery at Yale Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He has also been keenly interested in issues of race, bias, and disparity in medical care and education. In 2011 he founded Harvard's Culturally Competent Care Education Program to begin combating the unconscious and conscious biases of health care professionals and educators.
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Correspondence: John A. Feagin to Augustus White

A letter from John Feagin in which he provides a brief essay he titled "Memories of Gus: Race, War and Combat Surgery." Feagin and White served together at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. Feagin describes the work they did and how race was a factor for other members of the hospital staff in their interactions with Gus White. A letter from John Feagin in which he provides a brief essay he titled "Memories of Gus: Race, War and Combat Surgery." Feagin and White served together at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. Feagin describes the work they did and how race was a factor for other members of the hospital staff in their interactions with Gus White. Digital object made available by : Brown University Library, John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts , Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, U.S.A., (http://library.brown.edu/)

Article: "The View from the O.R." written by Cathy Shufro, published in Brown Alumni Bulletin, May/June 2007 issue.

This article profiles 2 military surgeons and tells of their experiences. Chris Coppola '90 served in Iraq during 2005 and Augustus A. White III '57 served in Vietnam during 1966-1967. Chris Coppola treated US military soldiers and Iraqi civilians including children injured during the fighting. Augustus A. White treated US military soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers and also assisted at a leprosy hospital in a nearby village during his off-duty time. White also talks about the racism that he faced as an African American man in the military. This article profiles 2 military surgeons and tells of their experiences. Chris Coppola '90 served in Iraq during 2005 and Augustus A. White III '57 served in Vietnam during 1966-1967. Chris Coppola treated US military soldiers and Iraqi civilians including children injured during the fighting. Augustus A. White treated US military soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers and also assisted at a leprosy hospital in a nearby village during his off-duty time. White also talks about the racism that he faced as an African American man in the military. Digital object made available by : Brown University Library, John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts , Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, U.S.A., (http://library.brown.edu/)

Article: "The Doctor of Prejudice" written by Beth Schwartzapfel, published in the Brown Alumni Bulletin.

This article is a biography of Augustus A. White III and his groundbreaking career as an African American orthopedic surgeon. It also highlights his work to combat the biases and poor cross-cultural communication in health care and medical education that result in disparities of care for minorities, women, homosexuals, the elderly and the obese. This article is a biography of Augustus A. White III and his groundbreaking career as an African American orthopedic surgeon. It also highlights his work to combat the biases and poor cross-cultural communication in health care and medical education that result in disparities of care for minorities, women, homosexuals, the elderly and the obese. Digital object made available by : Brown University Library, John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts , Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, U.S.A., (http://library.brown.edu/)