Mobile Medical Museum

Today is Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery in the United States. Emancipation was only the first step on the road to freedom--the second was Reconstruction. Newly emancipated slaves had to be educated and trained for the new industrial jobs that were emerging if they were ever to participate on an equal basis in the cultural, civic, and economic life of the country. In 1866, the Freedmen's Bureau opened a new Freedmen's school at the former Medical College of Alabama in Mobile. A total of 420 Black and mixed-race students were transferred there from the State Street AME Zion School for Freedmen, and educated by white Northern missionaries. The founder of the Medical College, Dr. Josiah Nott, was adamantly opposed to the Freedmen's School. In a meeting with Major-General Oliver O. Howard, the superintendent of the Freedman's Bureau, Nott said he would "rather see the building burned down." Due to rising tensions, the Freedman's school was moved to a new location on Government Street in 1868 and renamed Emerson College, after its financial sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Emerson, Sr. The school later became known as Emerson Normal Institute, operating as a public school from 1927 to 1970. The Medical College, meanwhile, reopened in its original building in 1868. First picture: Letter from Dr. Nott, Advertiser and Register, September 19, 1865. Second picture: Medical College of Alabama, c. 1900.

Homocea, a eucalyptus-scented fatty ointment for skin conditions, was a household name during the later decades of the 19th century thanks to its slogan 'it touches the spot'.

It evolved from a veterinary ointment that originated in British India, and this 1894 ad harks back to its early days. A lady wrote in to say that her parrot, Blossom-head, had suffered a loss of feathers. A few applications of Homocea later, Blossom-head's plumage blossomed afresh. As you can see, this also worked for men.

(Ad from The Feathered World, 6 July 1894)

Join us this Friday for a free Juneteenth screening and discussion of Medicine and the Movement at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church on the DIP!

Right now, there are **zero Black male applicants** for this accelerated **7-year MD/DDS program** through Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College.

That means this opportunity may not be reaching the young men who deserve to see it most.

If you know a Black male high school junior or senior with a strong academic record and a dream of becoming a **doctor or dentist**, please send this to them and their family today.

According to the flyer, the program offers:
✨ Accelerated 7-year MD/DDS track
✨ Potential full-ride scholarship
✨ A direct pathway toward medicine or dentistry

**Qualifications listed:**
• Black male high school juniors/seniors
• 3.5 GPA
• 28 ACT

Please share with parents, educators, pastors, mentors, coaches, fraternities, and community leaders.

**Exposure creates opportunity.**
Let’s make sure our young people know what’s possible.