Susan McKinney Steward

McKinney-Steward's burial site at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Susan Maria McKinney Steward (March 1847 – March 17, 1918) was an American physician and author. She was the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state.

McKinney-Steward's medical career focused on prenatal care and childhood disease. From 1870 to 1895, she ran her own practice in Brooklyn and co-founded the Brooklyn Women's Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary. She sat on the board and practiced medicine at the Brooklyn Home for Aged Colored People. From 1906, she worked as college physician at the African Methodist Episcopal Church's Wilberforce University in Ohio. In 1911, she attended the Universal Race Congress in London, where she delivered a paper entitled "Colored American Women". Her other sisters, Emma Tompkins became a school teacher, Clara Brown was a piano teacher, and Mary was a hair stylist. Her father held jobs as a porter, carpet cleaner, and laborer. However, he also sold hogs which provided him and his family with a respectable living. As a child, Susan was fond of music and learned to play the organ. Because of her musical training she taught at a public school in Washington, D.C., for around 2 years.

Education and career Although the exact reason McKinney-Steward wanted to pursue medicine is unknown, there are some factors that could explain her motivation. One possibility is that losing two of her brothers during the Civil War could have caused her to seek out a career where she could prevent other people from dying. In 1867, she attended the New York Medical College for Women. At that time, it would have usually brought public attention by the press if an African-American women had been admitted into medical school. At the time, the city had an anti-Black democratic press. However, her mentor Dr. Lozier had a strong abolitionist background and was likely able to deter press which avoided a public outcry. Although McKinney's father was a wealthy pig farmer who could have easily afforded her tuition costs, she preferred to pay for her education herself. She used money she had earned teaching at a colored school in Manhattan along with money earned from teaching music in Washington, D.C., and New York City to fund her medical school education. She chose a career in homeopathy, instead of medical study, most likely because it was more accessible to women. Because of her work ethic and academic performance, she was selected as valedictorian and graduated in 1869. However, neither the local newspapers or The New York Times included her valedictory address or included that she was of African descent. She sat on the board of and practiced medicine at the Brooklyn Home for Aged Colored People and served on the staff at New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in Manhattan. Her objective of the speech was to end the separation of men and women in medical schools. She advocated that women would have the same opportunity for internship positions if women were allowed to attend schools alongside men. and to alert others of the injustice of denying any citizen from any class or race of their unalienable rights. Initially, the organization's primary focus was on fighting against the negative affect alcohol had on families and society. In 1879, when Francis Willard became president, they broadened their scopes to more social reform causes, such as women's suffrage, child-labor, public health, anti-prostitution and international peace. This organization that Susan served on is now the oldest voluntary, non-sectarian women's organization and is still active internationally. His unit was the first all-black regiment in the U.S. Army. Theophilus Steward stated that Susan "entered heartily into the work among the soldiers and became an excellent step mother to [his] children." Her body was transported to Brooklyn, New York where she was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Her funeral was on March 10, 1918. One Hundred and forty years later, her great great niece followed in her legacy as a physician. The Reverend Dr. A. Louise Bonaparte practiced medicine as a Surgical Oncologist.

In the summer of 2020, author Kaitlyn Greenidge wrote a novel called Libertie with an excerpt named "Doers of the World." This excerpt is a short fiction story based on the life of Susan as it follows a girl named Libertie who watches her mother, Cathy, take care of and treat patients. In this story Cathy is modeled after Susan as she experiences many of the same hardships as she did and follows her journey in exploring the limits of care. In 2020 this short story won the tenth annual Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction.

Dr. Susan McKinney Secondary School of the Arts in Brooklyn and the Susan Smith McKinney Steward Medical Society are named for her. Actress Ellen Holly is her great-granddaughter.