Identifier:
mus-coh_smithrmd
Description:
Oral history.; Robert Smith was born on December 20, 1937 in Terry, Mississippi. He grew up on a farm, and his father was a livestock dealer. Smith began high school at age eleven. Upon graduation, he went on to graduate first from Tougaloo College and later Howard University, where he earned his M.D. In 1961, Smith was one of twelve Mississippi physicians drafted due to the Berlin Crisis. At that time, Smith became active in the Civil Rights movement. In 1963, Smith and others formed the Medical Committee for Civil Rights and picketed the American Medical Association to bring attention to segregated health care and racial disparities in morbidity. In 1964, he contributed to the creation of the southern arm of the Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR), which sponsored doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and other members of the allied health disciplines to come to Mississippi for Freedom Summer. In 1965, he helped obtain Office of Equal Opportunity funds to set up a model healthcare clinic in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, to serve seventeen counties by providing health, environmental, social, and legal services to those who needed it.
Creator:
Smith, Robert; Tanzman, Harriet
Date:
2000-04-08
Format:
Digital reproduction of a 48-minute, 34-second oral history.
Rights Statement:
IN COPYRIGHT; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Disclaimer:
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Collection:
Civil Rights Documentation Project: Canton, Jackson, Gulf Coast
Finding Aid:
Source:
E185.93.M6 C569 2000
