William Augustus Hinton, a pioneering African American bacteriologist and pathologist, was born on this day. He is best known for developing the Hinton Test for diagnosing syphilis, a breakthrough in medical diagnostics that was simpler, more reliable, and less expensive than previous methods.
Hinton was also the first Black professor at Harvard Medical School and a leading public health expert. Despite facing racial barriers, he refused to allow his photograph to be used in textbooks to avoid racial bias against his work. His contributions greatly advanced public health and diagnostic medicine in the 20th century.
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