Godfrey Nurse, MD

Dr. Godfrey Nurse was born in Georgetown, British Guiana, and after completing secondary school emigrated to the United States for medical training. In 1914 he graduated from Long Island College of Medicine and established a successful practice in the Harlem community. In the early 1920s he founded the Godfrey Nurse Research Laboratory, the first clinical laboratory operated by a Negro to be certified by the New York City Health Department. For a period of time he served as an adjunct on the surgical attending staff of Harlem Hospital, but in 1928 was pressured into resigning his position as the result of politically motivated, unproven and most likely unfounded charges of misconduct.

Despite the incident at the hospital, Dr. Nurse maintained a successful and lucrative practice in Harlem specializing in general surgery and was constantly involved in community projects and philanthropy. A champion for minority representation, he participated in community, district, and state politics and was the first black Presidential elector ever designated by the Democratic party. A measure of his commitment to the welfare of the Harlem community can be found in his donation in 1956 of $100,000 of his personal funds to the Harlem Hospital for the advancement of laboratory science--this in spite of his unfortunate treatment there in 1928. In the hospital a handsome bronze plaque bearing his likeness now honors his memory.