William P. Powell, Jr.: Doctor and Soldier.

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Mar 20, 2010
Location
Ohio
William P. Powell, Jr. was one of thirteen African American surgeons who served during the Civil War. Powell, a resident of New York City, received his medical education in England. In May 1863, he was hired as a contract assistant surgeon at Contraband Hospital in Washington, D.C., a medical facility that cared for emancipated slaves known as contraband. Assuming the duties of surgeon-in-charge six months after his appointment, Powell remained at the hospital for one year during which time he hired several black nurses and made requests for camp improvements including perimeter protective fencing.

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William P. Powell, Jr., August 1863

Courtesy National Archives, Washington, D.C.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/bindingwounds/exhibition.html
 
The opportunity to serve was limited for African Americans until 1863, when dwindling Union resources convinced the government to begin the recruitment of African American soldiers. In May of that year, Powell applied for and was offered a contract with the United States Army to serve as an acting assistant surgeon. He was assigned to the Contraband Hospital for fugitive slaves and black soldiers in Washington, D.C., under the direction of Maj. Alexander T. Augusta, the first African American medical officer in the Union Army and the first surgeon-in-chief of this hospital. Powell served alongside other African American surgeons including Anderson R. Abbott, Benjamin A. Boseman, and John H. Rapier. In October 1863, Augusta left the hospital to muster in with his regiment, the Seventh U.S. Colored Infantry, leaving Powell in charge.

http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2009/fall/face.html
 
Apparently Powell's mother was a Wampanoag Indian.
http://www.nps.gov/nebe/historyculture/upload/William_Powell.pdf

The following is about Powell's father, William P. Powell, Sr. See bottom left of second page in link.
http://www.nps.gov/nebe/planyourvisit/upload/ugrr_nb.pdf
"Two black boardinghouse keepers had notable careers in the Underground Railroad. By the mid-1830s William P. Powell operated a “seamen’s temperance boarding house” at 94 North Water Street. An avowed fugitive assistant, Powell housed many black sailors who had come to ship out on a New Bedford whaling vessel; no doubt some were fugitives from slavery."
 
TV show 'Copper" has a black doctor:
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It is set in the time of the war in 5 points in NYC
 
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