Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Massachusetts Colonization Society: Presented at the Annual Meeting, May 24, 1854
A large part of this amount last mentioned, was expended for the medical education of Mr. Daniel Laing, Jr., a native of Charlestown, Mass. And Mr. Isaac H. Snowden, of Boston. They had both received a good English education, and made some pro gress in classical studies. Their talents and characters were well certified by those who had known them from infancy. Both were printers by trade, doing business on their own presses, on their own account - Mr. Laing having a power press. It would seem, therefore, that their prospects for success in life in their native land, were far superior to those of most young men of color. Still, they became convinced that they could not reasonably hope to obtain a position here, for themselves and their families, with which they ought to be satisfied. They turned their thoughts towards Liberia. There was no need of more printers there at present; but there was need of two more physicians, not only for general practice, but to take the medical charge of emigrants during their acclimation. By request of the Parent Society, we undertook to give them a thorough education in medicine and surgery. In September, 1851, they commenced their course of study. The Massachusetts Medical College generously remitted the fees for Mr. Laing's first course of lectures, and a part of the fees for Mr. Snowden's but, in consequence of difficulties arising from another source, the Faculty resolved thenceforth to exclude colored stu dents from their lecture rooms. Their second course was attended at Dartmouth College. Their greatest difficulty was in finding opportunities to see practice, as practitioners believed that their patients would not consent to the introduction of colored students into their sick rooms, nor admit them to examine their persons. To overcome this difficulty, individual friends furnished Mr. Laing with funds to study in London. That invaluable friend of our Society, Dr. Wagstaff, procured for him free admission to the privileges of a student in St. Thomas Hospital, where he continued more than a year. Mr. Snowden persevered in his efforts to accomplish the object here and, at length, through the kindness of the surgeons and physicians of the Massachusetts General Hospital, was admit ted to see the practice in that institution. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
