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| AP – Antoinette Martignoni, left, and her granddaughter Greta Blau hold a family Bible that contains the name … |
The degree he earned in 1837 made him the nation's first professionally trained African-American doctor. He set up a medical practice in lower Manhattan and became the resident physician at an orphanage.
Celebrated during his lifetime as a teacher, writer and anti-slavery leader, Smith fell into obscurity after his death in 1865 and was buried in an unmarked grave.
On Sunday, descendants who only recently learned they had a black ancestor, will honor Smith at his Brooklyn grave. It will be marked with a new tombstone.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100924/ap_on_re_us/us_first_black_doctor