A Black Physician's Struggle for Civil Rights: Edward C. Mazique, M.D.

by Florence Ridlon

Overview

This powerful biography traces the career of an African American physician and civil rights advocate, Edward Craig Mazique (1911–1987), from the poverty and discrimination of Natchez, Mississippi, to his status as a prominent physician in Washington, DC. This moving story of one man’s accomplishments, in spite of many opposing forces, is also a chapter in the struggle of African Americans to achieve equality in the twentieth century.

At a time when black people were being denied entry into the American Medical Association and were not permitted to join the staffs of most hospitals, Dr. Mazique was the president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society and the National Medical Association. Dr. Mazique worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and black physicians to expand the availability of health care. Much of this story is in Dr. Mazique’s own words, taken from interviews with the author. What emerges from this biography is a picture of an exceptional but very human man who, despite discrimination and repression, excelled beyond all expectations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826333414
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	02/15/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Florence Ridlon received a PhD in sociology from Syracuse University. She was the cofounder of the Jim Thorpe Foundation, which is credited with the return of Thorpe’s Olympic gold medals and records, and she is a technical advisor on the forthcoming movie Bright Path: The Jim Thorpe Story. She and her husband, Bob Wheeler, own the public-relations firm Wheeler/Ridlon Communications.

Editorial Reviews

Kudos to Florence Ridlon for creating a lasting contribution to the history of African American physicians.

Journal of the National Medical Association

This work stands as an important new resource for researchers in the politics of medicine and the civil rights movement. Its great value lies in the much-needed documentation it provides for the life of one of the most influential African American physicians of the twentieth century.

Journal of the History of Medicine

This work stands as an important new resource for researchers in the politics of medicine and the civil rights movement. Its great value lies in the much-needed documentation it provides for the life of one of the most influential African-American physicians of the twentieth century.

History and Philosophy of Medicine

This is an extensively researched, well-written work. Recommended.

CHOICE Magazine