Lawson Andrew Scruggs (January 15, 1857 – December 1, 1914) was a physician in North Carolina who was active in politics and civil rights. He was African American. In 1893, he published a volume of biographies of African-American Women, ''Women of Distinction''.

Early life

Lawson Scruggs was born enslaved in Virginia in 1857 to George W. and Maria W. Scruggs. shortly before the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

(1861–1865). His education was funded by the

American Baptist Home Mission Society The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospe ...

, and he earned a medical degree from

Leonard Medical School Leonard Hall is a historic educational building located on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Built in 1881 and originally named Leonard Medical Center, it became known as Leonard Medical School, and then Leonard Hall. It w ...

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

in 1887.Joe A. Mobley. Raleigh: A Brief History. Arcadia Publishing, November 27, 2009

Career

Lawson Andrew Scruggs met Lucie Johnson at Shaw University and they married on 22 February 1888. They were married at St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church, New York by Rev. Henry Lyman Morehouse. They moved to Raleigh where his wife joined the Blount Street Baptist Church and various intellectual organisations. After gaining their medical degrees from Shaw, Scruggs and two of his classmates, J. T. Williams and

Manassa Thomas Pope Manassa Thomas Pope (1858 - November 13, 1934) was an American medical doctor and businessman who lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. He had mixed heritage on both parents' sides. His home in Raleigh is listed on the National Register of Historic Pla ...

, were denied membership in the North Carolina Medical Association. Together with A. B. Moore, they organized a new society, the Old North State Medical Society. In the late 1890s, Scruggs became attending physician at St. Agnes Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also served on the faculty at Leonard Medical School. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, violence in North Carolina against blacks intensified, and many blacks emigrated West. Scruggs, Shaw classmates J. T. Williams and Manassa Pope, James H. Young, Samuel Vick, and

Henry Cheatham Henry Plummer Cheatham (December 27, 1857 – November 29, 1935) was an educator, farmer and politician, elected as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1889 to 1893 from North Carolina. He was one of only five ...

were central in efforts to organize black Republican support for those who remained. Scruggs was politically sought stability and interracial harmony, a position which occasionally put him at odds with state Republican leader,

Daniel Lindsay Russell Daniel Lindsay Russell Jr. (August 7, 1845May 14, 1908) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of North Carolina, from 1897 to 1901. An attorney and judge, he had also been elected as state representative and to the United S ...

. Scruggs was an advocate for African American Women. In 1893, two separate volumes about African American women, '' Noted Negro Women'' by

Monroe Alpheus Majors Monroe Alpheus Majors (October 12, 1864 – December 10, 1960)"Majors, Monroe Alpheus"
...

and ''Women of Distinction'' by Scruggs, were published in 1893. Scruggs believed that African American women were greatly mistreated, and that in order to achieve eminence, it is necessary for an African American women to have "fought a fierce and bloody battle almost every step of her way."May, Vivian M. Anna Julia Cooper, visionary black feminist: A critical introduction. Routledge, 2007. p72

References

Bibliography

* *o {{DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs, Lawson A. 1857 births 1914 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights African-American physicians African-American writers People from Bedford, Virginia People from Raleigh, North Carolina Physicians from North Carolina Shaw University alumni