Throughout American history, determined African Americans have become healers. As doctors, nurses, and scientists, they have made vital contributions to the health of the American people.

The road to attaining the knowledge these healers longed for was a difficult one. But they kept going, despite the obstacles. These healers would not only mend the ills of the sick, but would also found schools, build hospitals, and fight for equal treatment as well as for the rights of their patients.

These true and inspiring stories of some of the great African American healers show you how:

Dr. James Durham, the first African American doctor, saved the lives of more yellow fever victims than most doctors in colonial Philadelphia.

• Susie King Taylor began nursing both black and white soldiers at the age of thirteen when the Civil War began and cared for them throughout the war.
• Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, saved a patient's life by performing the first successful open-heart operation.
• Dr. Justina Laurena Ford, the first black female physician in the Rocky Mountains, treated patients of all races in their homes, and became fluent in eight languages.
• Dr. Charles Drew invented the blood bank and discovered new uses for plasma.
• Dr. Benjamin Carson blazed a trail in the amazing field of brain surgery.

This outstanding collection brings to light these and dozens of other exciting and surprising tales of the men and women of medicine who lived their dreams.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY COMES TO LIFE

Discover why young people all over the country are reading the Black Stars biographies of African American heroes. Here is what you want to know about the lives of great black men and women during the fabulous Harlem Renaissance:

louis "satchmo" armstrong
eubie blake
thomas andrew dorsey
w. e. b. du bois
duke ellington
james reese europe
jessie redmon fauset
marcus garvey
w. c. handy
fletcher henderson
langston hughes
zora neale hurston
hall johnson
henry johnson
oscar micheaux
philip payton jr.
gertrude "ma" rainey
paul robeson
augusta savage
noble sissle
bessie smith
james van der zee
dorothy west
carter g. woodson

"The books in the Black Stars series are the types of books that would have really captivated me as a kid."
–Earl G. Graves, Black Enterprise magazine

"Inspiring stories that demonstrate what can happen when ingenuity and tenacity are paired with courage and hard work."
–Black Books Galore! Guide to Great African American Children’s Books

"Haskins has chosen his subjects well . . . catching a sense of the enormous obstacles they had to overcome. . . . Some names are familiar, but most are little-known whom Haskins elevates to their rightful place in history."
–Booklist

"The broad coverage makes this an unusual resource–a jumping-off point for deeper studies."
–Horn Book

Undying Glory was chosen as a CBC/NCSS Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. Kirkus Reviews gave it an outstanding starred review, saying it showed how black soldiers "proved their competence and dignity against incredible odds." Another reviewer declared that the battle scenes rivaled "any I have read in fiction or nonfiction." The success of the 54th Regiment at Fort Wagner and other battles cleared the way for the enlistment of 200,000 black men in the Civil War that ended slavery. The story of their courage, said one Union commander, "will be forever traced in undying glory."