On this day, Howard University College of Medicine officially opened in Washington, D.C., with eight students and five faculty members. Among the students, seven were Black and one was white, marking a bold and progressive step in post-Civil War America.

One of the founding faculty members was Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta, the first Black U.S. Army surgeon and first African American to achieve the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. As the only Black professor on the founding faculty, Dr. Augusta was a trailblazer in both medicine and civil rights, fighting for equality in medical education and military service.

Howard’s medical school went on to become one of the most significant institutions for training Black doctors in the United States, playing a key role in expanding access to healthcare in underserved communities.