James McCune Smith was born in 1813 in New York. His mother is believed to have bought her freedom, and he attended the African Free School in New York, and eventually earned his bachelor's, master's and medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1837. He returned to New York and opened a medical practice and pharmacy that served interracial clientele, and he was a vocal critic of the institution of slavery. This is his story.
Reflections in Black: James McCune Smith
