1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. I have 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: a weekly virtual lunch with a friend of mine and 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: sometimes one of us basically briefs the other one on 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: whatever project we are working on right now. And when 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: we were talking about this week's episode, I started out 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,599 Speaker 1: saying something like he was a physical anthropologist who did 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: a lot of work to debunk the racist theories of 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: other anthropologists. And then later on in this conversation, I 11 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: said something like, on top of being an anthropologist, he 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: was an activist and did all kinds of work to 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: desegregate hospitals and advocate for the passage of the Medicare bill. 14 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: And then later on it was like, oh, and he 15 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: was also an anatomy professor at Howard, so he was 16 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: teaching anatomy to a whole generation of black doctors and dentists. 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: And at that point my friend said, wait, how can 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: one person do that much? Uh? And that's correct, that 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: is a lot, and that on top of that that 20 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: three completely different things. W Montague Cob put out a 21 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 1: sheerly enormous volume of work. He was also the first 22 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: black person in the United States to earn a PhD 23 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: in anthropology. He was the only Black American working at 24 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: that level in the field for decades, and he wrote 25 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: prolifically about anthropology and racial equity and medical history and 26 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: on and on. So he's who we're talking about today. 27 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: And William Montague Cob was born in Washington, d C. 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: On October twelfth, nineteen o four. He was known to 29 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: his friends and family as Monty. His mother was Alexean 30 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: Montague Cob, and she was born in Washington, d C. 31 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: But her parents were from Massachusetts. Several sources note that 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: she had indigenous ancestry. In our episode on Paul Cuffey, 33 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: we talked about how marriages between African and indigenous people 34 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: were common in Massachusetts in the eighteenth century, but beyond that, 35 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: there really wasn't clear detail that Tracy was able to 36 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: dig up on alex Sean's family history and her her 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: provenance in that regard. So Monty's father, William Elmer Cobb, 38 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: was originally from Selma, Alabama, and he had moved to 39 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: the Washington, d C. Area at the end of the 40 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. To work at the government printing office. Eventually 41 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: he started his own business as a printer. Before the 42 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: young Monty started school, his mother, who had been a 43 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: school teacher, taught him the basics of reading, writing, and math, 44 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: and the family also attended Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. One 45 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: of Monty's childhood fascinations was a book that belonged to 46 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: his grandfather. This book included illustrations of people of different 47 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: races and ethnicities, and they were shown in traditional forms 48 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: of dress. And he was really struck by how all 49 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: these different people from all around the world were drawn, 50 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: as he described them, quote, with equal dignity. Cobb attended 51 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: segregated public schools in Washington, d c. And for high school, 52 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: he attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar High. When we've talked about 53 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: school segregation before, we have often talked about huge disparities 54 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 1: in funding, resources, and instructional quality, with schools for white 55 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: children typically having more of everything, more money, better facilities, 56 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: and white teachers who were also vastly better paid than 57 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: their black counterparts. And while segregation was still fundamentally discriminatory, 58 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: Dunbar was something of an exception to this pattern. Yeah, 59 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: Dunbar had been established in eighteen seventy. It was the 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: first public high school for black students in the United States, 61 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: and by the time Cobb attended it had a reputation 62 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,839 Speaker 1: as a truly elite school. It was the best high 63 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: school for black students in the US. It was one 64 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: of the best public high schools in the country overall. 65 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: Many of the faculty had advanced degrees, although this was 66 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: often because they were kept out of university positions because 67 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: of their race. Some of the faculty at Dunbar were 68 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: actually alumni who had gone on to graduate school and 69 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: then had come back to Dunbar to teach. The teacher's 70 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: pay was also equivalent to that of white teachers in Washington, 71 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: d c. Public schools, but not necessarily that of people 72 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: with the same degree who were working in another area. 73 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: Besides being school teachers. As an academic high school, Dunbar 74 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: tried to prepare its students to attend college, and recent 75 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: graduates were often invited back to the school to talk 76 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: to current students about their colleges and universities. Some of 77 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: the students who came back to Dunbar while Cobb was 78 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: there had gone on to Amherst College in Massachusetts. After 79 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: Cobb graduated from Dunbar in nine he went on to 80 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: get a bachelor's degree at Amherst. He was one of 81 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: four black students in his class there. Cobb had done 82 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: really well at Dunbar and that continued at Amherst. In 83 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: addition to excelling at his academic work, he was also 84 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: a gifted athlete. He ran cross country and he boxed. 85 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,840 Speaker 1: That was actually something he had taught himself out of 86 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: a book as a teenager for the sake of self defense. 87 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: He won intramural championships in both cross country and boxing 88 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: before graduating from Amerston. Thanks to his strong academic performance 89 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: in biology, Cobb earned amersts Harvey Blodget Scholarship, which allowed 90 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: him to continue his studies at woods Hole Marine Biology 91 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: Laboratory on Cape cod. At woods Hole, Cobb worked under 92 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: Dr Ernest Everett just Just, was an experimental embryologist who 93 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: was also on the faculty at Howard University. Cobb's research 94 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: work at woods Hole included observing fertilization and embryonic development 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: of marine animals under a microscope and taking detailed notes 96 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: and sketching what he had observed. From there, Cobb decided 97 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: to pursue a degree in medicine at Howard University, and 98 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: his motivation for this was, in his words quote, I 99 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 1: just felt a doctor was respected and made sick people well. 100 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: To earn money for his tuition, he spent his summers 101 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: working as a waiter on a Great Lake steamship, as 102 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: well as harvesting grain and Saskatchewan. At Howard, he joined 103 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: the Omega sci Fi fraternity in six he helped establish 104 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: the fraternity's Kappa Psi chapter for students at the university's 105 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: professional schools, including its medical school. He continued to excel academically, 106 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: and in his last year of medical school, he was 107 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: invited to teach a course in embryology. Based on his 108 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: academic performance and his earlier work at Woods Hole, Cobb 109 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: earned his m d from Howard In that same year 110 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: he married Hilda B. Smith. They would go on to 111 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: have two daughters, Caroline and Hilda Emilia, who would be 112 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: known as Amelia. Cobb completed his internship at Howard University Hospital, 113 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: which at the time was known as the Freedman's Hospital. 114 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: He passed his board exams and he got a license 115 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: to practice medicine and surgery in but Cobb's experience teaching 116 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: that embryology course had also shifted his focus for his career. 117 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: He decided that instead of becoming a practicing doctor, he 118 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: would become a teacher, teaching other people to become doctors, dentists, 119 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: and surgeons. This goal aligned very well with Howard's goals 120 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: as a black university. Although most of the medical students 121 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: that Howard were black, most of the faculty were white, 122 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: and they were working part time. Mordecai Johnson, who was 123 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: Howard University's first black president, thought that its student body 124 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: would be better served if there were more full time 125 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: black professors. But this really presented a challenge. The university 126 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: was training black doctors, but there really were not many 127 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: black people who were qualified to fill these teaching roles. 128 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: So the university decided to invest in its own graduates 129 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: and to prepare them to teach at the medical school. 130 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: Numa P. G. Adams was dean at the Medical schoo 131 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: wool at Howard. Like Mordecai Johnson, he was the first 132 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: black person to fill that role. Cobb was one of 133 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: the medical school alumni Adams selected for this effort. Cobb 134 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: chose anatomy as his focus for further study because, in 135 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: his words quote anatomy is the kindergarten of medicine. He 136 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: didn't mean that anatomy was an easy playtime, but instead 137 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: that it was the foundation on which the study of 138 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: medicine rested. He went on to Western Reserve University that 139 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio to 140 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: study both anatomy and physical anthropology. We will talk about 141 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:47,719 Speaker 1: that after a sponsor break. Anthropology is the study of humanity, 142 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: and today the field of physical anthropology is largely focused 143 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: on human evolution, including genetic research into humans and are 144 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: hominid ancestors. But in the early years of the field, 145 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: when it was very first branching off from the related 146 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: field of anatomy, physical anthropology was largely focused on researching 147 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: human development and human diversity through the study of the 148 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: human body, and a lot of that research tried to 149 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: categorize humanity into different races. One of the earliest figures 150 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: in this research was German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who 151 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: is sometimes called the father of physical anthropology. His study 152 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: of human anatomy, particularly the cranium, led him to propose 153 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: that all of humanity could be divided into five races, 154 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: and he defined those races as Caucasian, Mongolian, Malayan, Ethiopian, 155 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: and American. In the US, physician and anthropologist Samuel Morton 156 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 1: started collecting skulls meant to represent each of those races, 157 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: and he started doing that in eighteen thirty. This work 158 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: led him to build a huge collection of skulls, measuring 159 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: them and drawing conclusions based on those measurements. A lot 160 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: of this work was explicitly racist. In the nineteenth and 161 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: early twentieth centuries, many, but certainly not all, physical anthropologists 162 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 1: used measurements of the human body not just to try 163 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: to sort people into categories by race, but also to 164 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: rank those categories according to their superiority or their worth. Morton, 165 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: for example, used his cranial measurements to try to prove 166 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: that white people were superior to all other races. Check 167 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: anthropologist A. Less Herd Litchka, who worked primarily in the 168 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: United States, is regarded as one of the founders of 169 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: the field of physical anthropology in the US, and he 170 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: also supported the idea that white people, specifically white men, 171 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: were superior and that physical anthropology as a field could 172 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: prove that superiority. An outlier in all of this was 173 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: Thomas Wingate Todd, professor of anatomy at Western Reserve University 174 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: Medical School. Todd's own work in anatomy and physical anthropology 175 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: led him to conclude that race did not influence brain 176 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: development and that the racist conclusions his colleagues had drawn 177 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: from things like skull measurements were baseless. His research suggested 178 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: that physiological differences that fell along demographic lines were due 179 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: to social and environmental conditions, not to innate race related 180 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: traits that conferred some kind of superiority. He was deeply 181 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: critical of her Lichas conclusions about the supremacy of white men. 182 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,719 Speaker 1: Thomas Wingate Todd was also William Montague Cobb's mentor at 183 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: Western Reserve University and his pH d thesis advisor. While 184 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: at Western Reserve, Cobb worked at the Hammand Museum of 185 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: Comparative Anatomy and Anthropology, and he embarked on a massive 186 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: survey of the skeletal collections that were available for anthropological research. 187 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: This included the Hammond Todd collection at Western Reserve and 188 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: collections that were held the U. S. National Museum which 189 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: is now the Smithsonian. The curator of the collection at 190 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 1: the National Museum was lesh her Lita. As a side note, 191 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: in his later years, Cobbs speculated on why Todd, who 192 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 1: as we said, was his thesis adviser, had sent him 193 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: to work under her lit on this project in spite 194 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: of knowing about that man's racist views. One reason was 195 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: just physical proximity, since the National Museum's collection was in Washington, 196 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: d c. Where Cobb lived and had lived for almost 197 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: all of his life. But Cobb also concluded that another 198 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,719 Speaker 1: reason was that Todd just wanted to see how her 199 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: Litchka would square Cobb's intelligence and academic excellence with his 200 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: views of people with African ancestry as inferior. Although Cobb 201 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: describes her Lisa as generally treating him with outward respect, 202 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: he also describes him as quote inventing a reason why 203 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: he was different from other black people that, in her 204 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: Lichka's word, Cobb's quote vigor stemmed from his multi racial ancestry. 205 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: Cobb finished his PhD in Anatomy and Physical Anthropology in 206 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: n two that made him the first black man in 207 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: the United States to earn a PhD in the field 208 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: of anthropology. His dissertation was published the following year under 209 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: the title Human Archives and in addition to it detailing 210 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,559 Speaker 1: the research collections in Cleveland and in Washington, d c. 211 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: This dissertation also surveyed methods for documenting, processing, and preserving 212 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: these types of collections. So Cobb's goal with this dissertation 213 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: was not just to meet the requirements for his PhD. 214 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: It was also to give him the foundational knowledge that 215 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: he would need to establish such a research collection at Howard. 216 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, the field of physical anthropology was 217 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: brand new at this point. It was so new that 218 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: the first meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropology 219 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: just that Cob attended, was only the second one ever 220 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: to have been held, and Cobb was really the only 221 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: black voice in the field until the nineteen fifties. After 222 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: completing his PhD, Cobb returned to Howard as planned. Although 223 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: he often spent summers working with the collections at Case 224 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: Western and at the Smiths Odion, He also did extensive 225 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: research into the human cranium and connections between the bones 226 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: of the cranium and the bones of the face. He 227 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: drew conclusions about how these bones grew and developed over 228 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: the course of a person's life. One of his discoveries 229 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: in this research related to the closure of the craniofacial sutures. 230 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: At the time, one method that researchers used to determine 231 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: age when they were analyzing a person's remains was to 232 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: analyze the closure of the sutures of the cranium, and 233 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: Cobb concluded that this just wasn't a reliable method because 234 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: a range of biological factors could affect the way a 235 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: person the sutures closed. At Howard, Cobb spent the next 236 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: few years both teaching anatomy and establishing the university's Laboratory 237 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: of Anatomy and Physical Anthropology. His work involved preserving the 238 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: skeletons that had been part of anatomy students cadaver labs, 239 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: as well as keeping meticulous records involving their medical history 240 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: and demographic data. Cobb continued preserving skeletons for this collection 241 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: until nineteen sixty five, for a total of nine hundred 242 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: eighty seven sets of skeletal remains. He also took X rays, 243 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: medical records, and demographic data from more than nine hundred 244 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: living persons to add to the collection. The W. Montague 245 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: Cobb Research Laboratory still exists at Howard today, as does 246 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: this collection, and in terms of skeletal collections, it's unique. 247 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: Along with remains from the New York African Burial Ground 248 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: that are also at Howard, the Cobb collection is the 249 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: only such collection of skeletal remains housed at a historically 250 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: back university, and it's also unique in terms of the 251 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: skeletons themselves. They represent the skeletal remains of people who 252 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: donated their bodies to the university or that the university purchased, 253 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: so overwhelmingly they represent black residents of Washington, d C. 254 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: Who died between nineteen thirty one in nineteen sixty five. So, 255 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: in addition to what they represent in terms of the 256 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: study of human anatomy, physiology, and anthropology, they also represent 257 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: a source of information specifically about the black population of Washington, 258 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: d C. Over more than three decades. In nineteen forty two, 259 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: Cobb became a full professor at Howard, and in nineteen 260 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: forty nine he was named chair of the anatomy department. 261 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: That's a role that he held until nineteen sixty nine. 262 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: As a professor, he became known for taking an interdisciplinary 263 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: approach to the subject. He recited poetry to illustrate concepts, 264 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: and he played the violin while students worked on their dissections. 265 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: He also thought basic skills and drawing were critical to 266 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: studying anatomy, that understanding proportions and representations would give students 267 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: a fuller understanding of the human body. Students would draw 268 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: a human figure and its skeletal structure, then fill in 269 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: the remaining anatomical features layer by layer. So this method 270 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 1: of anatomical study through drawing was popular in anatomy classrooms 271 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: at the start of Cobb's career, but by the nineteen 272 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: sixties it had really fallen out of favor, and in 273 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,880 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, first year medical students at Howard launched 274 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,959 Speaker 1: a protest against Cobb, both as an anatomy professor and 275 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: as the chair of the Department of Anatomy. Students felt 276 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: that his anatomy classes were too theatrical and too free form, 277 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: and they were not focused on preparing them to pass 278 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: their board exams, whereas to me, I'm like, you get 279 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: to learn art with your science. That's amazing. Clearly different priorities. 280 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: Although Cobb was removed from his position as department chair 281 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 1: of to this, fifty eight members of the faculty signed 282 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: a petition protesting this removal. In the end, Cobb was 283 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: named Howard's first distinguished Professor. That's a role he held 284 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy three, when he reached the school's mandatory 285 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: retirement age of seventy A dinner held in his honor 286 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: that year was attended by many of the same people 287 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: who had protested against him in nineteen sixty nine, students 288 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 1: who were now in their last year of medical school. 289 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: According to Cobb's colleague Charles H. Epps, who would later 290 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: be named dean of the medical school, by this point, 291 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,360 Speaker 1: many of the students felt that they hadn't been entirely 292 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: fair to Cobb in their earlier protest. Yeah, there was 293 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: also some discussion that he was sort of the most 294 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: the most high profile person in the medical school, and 295 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 1: so it made him an easy target for students who 296 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: sort of felt the whole medical school system was too 297 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: paternalistic and became like an emblem of all of the 298 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: frustrate sations of the students at the time. After his retirement, though, 299 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,199 Speaker 1: Cobb held the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus, and he 300 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: continued working at twelve other colleges and universities. By doing 301 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: guest professorships. By Cobb's own count, he taught anatomy to 302 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,880 Speaker 1: as many as six thousand medical and dental students, most 303 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: of whom were black, over the course of his career. 304 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about his work outside the 305 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: anatomy classroom after we first paused for a sponsor break. 306 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: Before the break, we talked about how when W. Montague 307 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: Cobb first entered the field of physical anthropology, a lot 308 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: of people in that field were promoting racist views and 309 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: drawing racist conclusions in their work. Thomas Wingate Todd, who 310 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: was Cobbs doctoral advisor, was one of the people pushing 311 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: back against this scientific racism. Another was Julian her Man Lewis. 312 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: Lewis pointed out that a lot of anatomical research that 313 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,199 Speaker 1: existed at the time focused only on white subjects, but 314 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: did not actually say so. So the subjects of the 315 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,359 Speaker 1: particular piece of research would be described with something like 316 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: quote normal, healthy, mails, but they were really only white people. 317 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: Louis two book, The Biology of the Negro picked apart 318 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: the idea that black Americans were somehow biologically inferior, but 319 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: that book didn't really get widespread recognition. There was also 320 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: Franz Boas, who is sometimes called the father of American anthropology, 321 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: and to be clear, his work was not without fault. 322 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: He robbed indigenous people's burial sites in order to collect 323 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: remains to study and also sell. But he also really 324 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: stressed that human beings were fundamentally biologically equal, with the 325 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 1: differences among them being due to historical, environmental, and developmental factors. 326 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: And of course there was also w. Montague Comb himself. 327 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: Throughout his career, in every area he worked in, he 328 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: was deeply focused on dispelling racist ideas and trying to 329 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: ensure racial equality, especially for Black Americans. He didn't try 330 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,959 Speaker 1: to dispel the idea of race in general, but he 331 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: did emphasize humanity's diversity and the social and historical factors 332 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 1: that contributed to that diversity, rather than framing race as 333 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: biologically determined, with some races inherently superior to others. Cobb's 334 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,719 Speaker 1: most high profile work to debunk racism through anthropology followed 335 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirty six Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. 336 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: That's the Olympic Games at which Jesse Owens earned four 337 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: gold medals. We actually are going to replay that episode 338 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: as a Saturday Classic coming up soon. Uh. Sometimes people 339 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:57,239 Speaker 1: interpret Owen's exceptional performance as undermining Adolf Hitler's vision of 340 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: Aryan supremacy, but really there was a lot of discussion 341 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: about Owen's wins at the Olympic Games that was used 342 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: to back up the racist assertion that his athletic performance 343 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: was due to his race and that black people's purportedly 344 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: innate athletic abilities came at the expense of their intellectual abilities. 345 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: And this was not just a belief that was circulating 346 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: within the world of physical anthropology, it quickly made its 347 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: way into mainstream writing about athletics and race. Cobb worked 348 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: to debunk this assertion, examining and taking X rays of runners, 349 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: including Owens himself. In nineteen thirty six, he published Race 350 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: and Runners, which began with an overview of recent performance 351 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: by black runners before detailing other shifting demographic trends that 352 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: had played out over the history of the sport. He 353 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: analyzed runners physical characteristics in their performance. He noted that 354 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 1: Owens had several physical traits that were purportedly more common 355 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: in white runners, not the traits supposedly unique to black 356 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: runners that would have, according to that widely circulated theory 357 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: given him an advantage. He concluded, quote, no particular racial 358 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: or national group has ever exercised a monopoly or supremacy 359 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: in a particular kind of event. The popularity of different 360 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: events with different groups of people has and probably will 361 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: always vary, though not necessarily in the same direction. He 362 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: went on to say, quote, the physiques of champion Negro 363 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: and white sprinters in general, and of Jesse Owens in particular, 364 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 1: revealed nothing to indicate that Negroid physical characters are anatomically 365 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: concerned with the present dominance of Negro athletes in national 366 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: competition in the short dashes and the broad jump. There 367 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: is not a single physical characteristic which all the Negro 368 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: stars in question have in common which would definitely identify 369 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: them as negroes. Cobb wrote other articles on this subject 370 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: or for the course of the next decade and more, 371 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: including ones that were published in popular magazines. For example, 372 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: in Negro Digest in seven, he wrote, quote science has 373 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: not revealed a single trait particular to the Negro alone 374 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: to which his athletic achievements could be attributed. In nineteen 375 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 1: thirty nine, Cobb published the Negro as a biological element 376 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: in the American population. That was published in the Journal 377 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: of Negro Education, and this was a broad look at 378 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: black Americans from an anthropological perspective. He wrote, quote in 379 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: the United States today, law and custom decree that any 380 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: citizen who is known to have African blood, however diluted, 381 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: is a Negro. Consequently, from American negroes, individuals may be 382 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: selected who might serve as examples of nearly every physical 383 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: type in the world, from West African to Nordic. He 384 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: also concluded that this diversity was temporary because in most 385 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 1: of the US, intermarriages between black and white people were 386 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: either socially taboo or legally banned. He thought over time 387 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: the country's black population would become more homogeneous. Of course, 388 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: those laws and social norms have certainly shifted in the 389 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,439 Speaker 1: decades since he wrote that paper. Day, we have a 390 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: two part episode on Loving versus Virginia, which is the 391 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 1: Supreme Court decision that's struck down antimissagination laws for more 392 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 1: on that. So so far, this might all sound pretty academic, 393 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: and there is value in debunking racist ideas, especially considering 394 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: that these ideas made their way into things like mainstream 395 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,959 Speaker 1: magazines and high school anatomy and physiology textbooks. Um, I 396 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: feel like we have read from such textbooks and previous 397 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: episodes of the show that repeat these same basic ideas. 398 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: But cops work also focused on things that you might 399 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: describe as more immediately practical, like integrating the American medical system. 400 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: Cobb felt that the country segregated medical system was harming 401 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: people of every race, and much of his work. Cob 402 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: noted that Indigenous, Asian, and Hispanic and Latino patients were 403 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: often treated similarly to Black patients, but overall his work 404 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,640 Speaker 1: was more focused on the needs of black people than 405 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: on these other groups. In Cobb's view, discrimination was slowing 406 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: medical progress and lowering the quality of care for everyone, 407 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: but especially for black patients. It was also restricting opportunities 408 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: for black doctors. After the nineteen ten Flexner Report, Maherry 409 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: and Howard, which we've talked about before, were the only 410 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 1: black medical schools, and up until the nineteen forties, black 411 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: doctors could only do their residencies and a handful of 412 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: black hospitals. Afterward, they could only work in those same 413 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: hospitals or in private practice, and this was holding back 414 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 1: the entire medical field. So Cobbs started this integration work 415 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: in the nineteen parties by advocating for black doctors to 416 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: be accepted on staff at white hospitals and to be 417 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 1: allowed admission into white's only professional societies. This included the 418 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: Medical Society of the District of Columbia and the American 419 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: Medical Association. There had been other organizations established four black 420 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: doctors because of this exclusion. That included the Medico Surgical 421 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: Society of the District of Columbia that had been established 422 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: for black physicians in eighteen eighty four, and the National 423 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: Medical Association, which was established in eighteen He also wrote 424 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: specifically about workplace and social factors that affected black nurses, 425 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 1: noting that black people had historically performed critical and often 426 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 1: dangerous and unpleasant work during emergencies like wars and disease outbreaks, 427 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: but then we're denied the dignity of the title nurse 428 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: because of their race. He traced that history through to 429 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: nursing schools and professional associations ex gluting black people. In 430 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, Cobb helped organized the first im HOTEP 431 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: National Conference on Hospital Integration, which was focused on integration 432 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: all through the hospital system, the patients, the staff, the administration, 433 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: the residents and interns at teaching hospitals, all of it. 434 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: This conference was named for m Hotep, who was advisor 435 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 1: to the Third Dynasty pharaoh Josser, who we've talked about 436 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: on the show before and later was worshiped as an 437 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: Egyptian god of medicine. This conference was sponsored by the 438 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: National Medical Association's Council on Medical Education and Hospitals, by 439 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: the n double A CPS National Health Committee, and by 440 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: the Medico Trurgical Society of the District of Columbia. It 441 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: was held annually until nineteen sixty three. The conference became 442 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: less necessary after the passage of the Civil Rights Act 443 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty four, which Cobb had aggressively supported. Title 444 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: six of the Act reads, quote, no person in the 445 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: United States, shell on the ground of race, color, or 446 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the 447 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program 448 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Then, another law that 449 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: Cobbs supported made that title apply to hospitals all over 450 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: the country. That was the Social Security Act Amendments, also 451 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: called the Medicare and Medicaid Act of nineteen sixty five. Basically, 452 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: Medicare provided hospital insurance and medical insurance to people age 453 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: sixty five and older, and Medicaid provided medical assistance for 454 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: people with low incomes. So the passage of Medicare and 455 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 1: Medicaid meant that essentially every hospital in the United States 456 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: would be accepting federal financial assistance. In other words, together, 457 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: the Medicaid Bill and the Civil Rights Act essentially made 458 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: hospital segregation illegal nationwide. This was one of the reasons 459 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: the American Medical Association had a pos is the Medicare bill. 460 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: In fact, the only member of a professional medical society 461 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: who had openly supported Medicare was W. Montague Cobb. Cobb 462 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: endorsed the bill and testified on its behalf before Congress. 463 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: When President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation, Cobb was invited 464 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: to witness the signing. And this was not the first 465 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: time that Cobb had so publicly opposed the A M A. 466 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: Back in he had testified before Congress in favor of 467 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: the National Health Act, which would have created a National 468 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: Health Insurance Plan. Cobb endorsed the bill on behalf of 469 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: the double a CP before Congress, and he described the 470 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: bill as having the potential quote to close the gap 471 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: between advances and medical technology on the one hand, and 472 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: the social and economic arrangements by which medical services are 473 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: made available on the other. In his testimony, he described 474 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: health conditions in the US as quote far from satisfy factory, 475 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: with quote the plight of the negro worse than that 476 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: of the white. The a m A opposed this legislation 477 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: and inaccurately branded its socialized medicine. It ultimately failed. Cobb's 478 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: advocacy for black doctors and other black professionals also extended 479 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 1: beyond their day to day working environments. In nine, the 480 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: American Association for the Advancement of Science held its conference 481 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Georgia. Cobb vigorously opposed this choice of venue 482 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: because Atlanti's hotels were segregated. The a a S worked 483 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: out a compromise which was for black attendees to be 484 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: allowed into the host hotels for meetings, but not as 485 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: overnight guests. Instead, they would stay Atlanta University. Cobb boycotted 486 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: the meeting, and the next year the a a S 487 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 1: implemented anti segregation policies for its conference locations. Like a 488 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: lot of the compromises we've talked about on the show 489 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: it's not really compromise. The people it was offered to 490 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: were like, are you kidding me? Cobb advocated for the 491 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: same change at the American Association of Anatomists two years later. 492 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty five, he traveled to Selma, Alabama, to 493 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: support the physicians who had volunteered to offer aid during 494 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 1: the Selma to Montgomery March. These are really just some 495 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: of the biggest highlights of W. Montague COB's career. He 496 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: served as president of the Medico Tururgical Society of the 497 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: District of Columbia from nineteen forty five to ninety seven, 498 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: and then again from nineteen fifty one to nineteen fifty four. 499 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 1: He served as editor of the Journal of the National 500 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,680 Speaker 1: Medical Association for twenty eight years, starting in nineteen forty nine, 501 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: and during that time he helped expand it from a 502 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: temporary publication of the enemy to a respected medical journal. 503 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty seven, he was named president of the 504 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: American Association of Physical Anthropologists. He served in that role 505 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: for two years. In nineteen sixty five, he served on 506 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: the executive committee of the White House confer It's on Health. 507 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: He was the executive president of the Double A CP 508 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: from ninety six to Night three, and he was on 509 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: the Double A CP board for thirty one years. Over 510 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: the course of his career, he wrote more than one thousand, 511 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: one hundred papers in his field, as well as a 512 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: series of two hundred biographies of black doctors, and for 513 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 1: most of that time he also taught anatomy and chaired 514 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: the anatomy department at Howard University. I am exhausted just 515 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: reading that list so much. Cobb's wife, Hilda, died in 516 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six. They had been married for forty seven years. 517 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: A year later, Cobb played the role of W. E. B. 518 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: Du Boys in a production called Without a Doubt at 519 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: the Kennedy Center. This production was something his daughter, Amelia 520 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: Cobb Gray, had compiled and directed, and this was his 521 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,520 Speaker 1: stage debut. In Night Cob was awarded the Henry Gray 522 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: Award from the American Association of Anatomists, which is its 523 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: highest award. Cobb continued his advocacy into his very last 524 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: year's in the y m c A planned to close 525 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: it's Anthony Bowen branch in Washington, d c. And this 526 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:11,279 Speaker 1: was in Cobb's childhood neighborhood, and it had also been 527 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: the first branch that the y m c A had 528 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 1: established for black members. Cobb argued vocally against this closure, 529 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,719 Speaker 1: both because of the branches historical significance and because the 530 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: neighborhood itself was desperately in need of recreation and other services. 531 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,280 Speaker 1: The y m c A ultimately agreed not to close 532 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: the branch, but it did move it into a different facility, 533 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: citing the original buildings disrepair. In w Montague, Cobb was 534 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:42,879 Speaker 1: awarded the American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award. He died 535 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: on November twenty of that same year at the age 536 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: of eighty six, and his own words quote, when I 537 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,279 Speaker 1: go down, I hope I'll go down still pushing for 538 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,880 Speaker 1: something in the forward direction that is mind blowing levels 539 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: of achievement. I feel so lazy. Do you also have 540 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,319 Speaker 1: listener mail for us? I do. I have listener mail 541 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:11,320 Speaker 1: that's not about this episode, but it's Germaine to this episode, 542 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,240 Speaker 1: and it is from Samantha, and Samantha says Hi, Holly 543 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 1: and Tracy. First of all, I want to preface this 544 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 1: email by saying what a big fan I am at 545 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: the show. I love how y'all highlight underrepresented voices and 546 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 1: stories from the past. That being said, I think that 547 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: something y'all said, or more specifically, didn't say in a 548 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 1: recent episode bears attention. In the episode John Dalton's Anomalous 549 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: Color Vision, y'all mentioned a study that demonstrated the differences 550 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,920 Speaker 1: in rates of color deficient vision between the sexes. I 551 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,880 Speaker 1: appreciated that y'all noted the difference between gender and sex, 552 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: saying that gender does not always correspond to once assigned 553 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,439 Speaker 1: sex at birth, and neither does science. Sex at birth 554 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: always correspond to one's chromosomal sex, which is the actual 555 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: determining factor in this particular situation. Unfortunately, y'all did not 556 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,799 Speaker 1: extend the same nuance to the studies treatment of race. 557 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: Race is just as socially constructed as gender is, and 558 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: in my opinion, y'all only talking about one but not 559 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: the other, created the implication that race is biological. This 560 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:13,399 Speaker 1: false notion that race is biological is something that many 561 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: scholars and advocates have been pushing against for a long time. 562 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:19,279 Speaker 1: As I'm sure you both know, the category is that 563 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: humans constructs races are largely arbitrary and have little to 564 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 1: do with biology. For example, a person labeled black in 565 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: that study could have had a majority of their ancestors 566 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: be European, while a person labeled as Hispanic or Latino 567 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,919 Speaker 1: could have a wide range of African, European, and Native 568 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 1: American ancestry. Therefore, saying a trait is more or less 569 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: common and different racial groups says little about whether that 570 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: difference is actually meaningful or associated with any differences in 571 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: ancestral populations. In my opinion, it's dangerous to present studies 572 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: such as these without the context of the social construction 573 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:54,920 Speaker 1: of race, as doing so can create the false impression 574 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: that dividing humans into racial groups is somehow natural. Again, 575 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 1: huge fan of the show. I just wanted to raise 576 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:02,759 Speaker 1: this issue so y'all can keep this in mind for 577 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 1: any future episodes touching on genetics or any other issues 578 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: involving scientific uses of race. On a related note, I 579 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 1: think that an episode on Franz Bois would be a 580 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,880 Speaker 1: great way to explore this. The complexity surrounding his dedication 581 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,799 Speaker 1: to fighting scientific racism while simultaneously being pretty inconsiderate of 582 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:24,640 Speaker 1: how his methods impacted Native Americans is something worth discussing. Sincerely, Samantha, 583 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 1: thank you for this email. Samantha usually not a hundred 584 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,359 Speaker 1: percent of the time. You and I picked listener mail 585 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: based on like who researched the episode, and this was 586 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:34,360 Speaker 1: one that you researched, but I was the one that 587 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,719 Speaker 1: made the comment. Uh So I picked it out for 588 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 1: that reason because, um that I raised the point about 589 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:46,399 Speaker 1: the study being about sex and not gender, just because 590 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: I wanted it to be clear what we were talking about, right, 591 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: And we had talked about how that would have potentially 592 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: shifted head that that study, which is some years old, 593 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: been done today with a more nuanced understanding of those yeah. Yeah. 594 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 1: And as far as the reporting of race and ethnicity 595 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 1: of the study, that was based on the self reporting 596 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: of the parents. So yes, this email is correct. Race 597 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 1: is socially constructed. There's no biological or genetic support to 598 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: the idea of human beings divided up into the racial 599 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: categories that we talked about a lot. Like when the 600 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,480 Speaker 1: Human Genome Project was completed in two thousand and three, 601 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,840 Speaker 1: one of the findings that was really interesting was that 602 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:31,080 Speaker 1: there was more genetic diversity within people who would be 603 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,480 Speaker 1: described as part of the same race then there was 604 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:38,920 Speaker 1: within members of like between people of two different races. 605 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:41,959 Speaker 1: I actually feel like this is something we've talked about 606 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,800 Speaker 1: on this show before, although I cannot recall what episode, 607 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:51,880 Speaker 1: we've definitely talked about UM shifting definitions of different racial 608 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:56,680 Speaker 1: categories and how people have intentionally influenced those. I remember 609 00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 1: that coming up in the Bacon's Rebellion episodes and when 610 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:04,279 Speaker 1: we act about Macario Garcia. UM. So, yes, race is 611 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: socially constructed. It also is something that has a real 612 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:12,719 Speaker 1: effect on people's lives all the time. And there are 613 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: a lot of diseases and conditions and other health related 614 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:19,799 Speaker 1: issues and traits that fall along demographic lines, UM, which 615 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: is something that's really important for UH doctors and patients 616 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: to I'll be aware of also when we start talking 617 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,800 Speaker 1: about things that are social constructs, if you think about 618 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:31,959 Speaker 1: it for a while, you can just work yourself into 619 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,040 Speaker 1: a whole existential dilemma because like crime socially constructed, money 620 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,799 Speaker 1: socially constructed, the economy socially constructed. These are all things 621 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: that are made up that we collectively believe in M 622 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:54,680 Speaker 1: word assigned h identification of any object in the entire world, art, 623 00:39:55,160 --> 00:40:00,520 Speaker 1: art that socially constructed anyway, UM yeah, member, one day 624 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,920 Speaker 1: just beaking like really, it's everything, everything is socially constructed. 625 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 1: So anyway, thank you again, Samantha Um for sending that 626 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 1: email giving us an opportunity to like explicitly say that 627 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: that race is socially constructed. If we have not explicitly 628 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:18,719 Speaker 1: said that on the show before, in spite of having 629 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:21,719 Speaker 1: talked around it previously. Uh, if you'd like to send 630 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: us an email, We're at History Podcast at iHeart radio 631 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,319 Speaker 1: dot com. We're also all over social media app mist 632 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 1: in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook and Twitter 633 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:34,240 Speaker 1: and Pinterest and Instagram. You can subscribe to our show 634 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,200 Speaker 1: on the iHeart radio app and Apple podcasts and anywhere 635 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:44,680 Speaker 1: else that you get podcasts. Stuff you missed in History 636 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,439 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. For more 637 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,560 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart radio app, 638 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,840 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows