A.C. Jackson (surgeon)
A.C. Jackson was an African American surgeon who was killed during the Tulsa race massacre in 1921. According to the Greenwood Cultural Center, Jackson was considered as the "most able Negro surgeon in America" by the Mayo brothers, founders of the Mayo Clinic.[1]
Biography
He was born in Memphis and raised in Guthrie, where his father worked as a law officer. Jackson graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville and later took his surgery training in Memphis. He specialized in "chronic diseases and surgery for women" and practiced in Claremore and Tulsa. Some of the surgical tools he invented are still in use today.[2]
Former police commissioner and retired judge John Oliphant reported that Jackson was fatally shot in 1921 during the Tulsa race massacre when he "came walking toward me with his hands in the air" saying "here am I. I want to go with you", surrendering.[1] A mob of about seven armed men intercepted him and two of them shot him. One of the men shot him after he had fallen to the ground. Jackson was 40 years old when he was killed.[2] HIs killers never were identified.[3]
References
- L. Brown, DeNeen (11 October 2018). "We lived like we were Wall Street". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- "Dr. A. C. Jackson: "Hands of Peace"". Black Wall Street Movement Membership. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- Stanley, Tim (17 February 2020). "Surgeon A.C. Jackson killed in 1921 massacre". Tulsa World. Retrieved 9 August 2020.