Black Doctor Cover Front Cover
Author:
Christopher L. Webber
Published:
December 3rd, 2024
ISBN:
1958870234
Price:
$ 24
Cover:
Paperback
Subjects:
Biography
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Dr. James McCune Smith was more than just a pioneer.

Born in slavery in New York City when slavery was still legal there, James McCune Smith managed to get a good elementary education in a Quaker school but was turned down by colleges because he was Black. Seeing his ability, his pastor raised funds to send him to Scotland where in five years he earned a BA, MA, and MD with honors. He returned to New York

with better training than most American doctors and established a practice serving Black and white alike. Smith took a leading role in the abolition movement, working closely with Frederick Douglass and writing a regular column for Douglass’s paper. James McCune Smith formed a rare Black-white friendship with Gerrit Smith, a wealthy white landowner in upstate

New York; when Gerrit Smith, Frederick Douglass, and others formed a Radical Abolition Party to work to abolish slavery, McCune Smith served as chair of the party’s convention-the first time a Black American had chaired a national convention. One of the most important voices in the pre-Civil War abolition movement, this biography brings him to vibrant life as a key figure in American history.

 

The Author

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Christopher L. Webber

Christopher L. Webber, a graduate of Princeton University and the General Theological Seminary in New York (with two earned degrees and an honorary doctorate from the latter) , is the author of a number of books ranging from a guidebook for Vestries to a study of Christian marriage. He has also written hymns included in several major hymnals in the United States and Canada. His most recent books are Dear Friends: Letters of St Paul to Christians in America, American to the Backbone, a biography of James W.C. Pennington, a remarkable pre-Civil War abolition leader, Welcome to Christian Faith, an introduction to Christian life and teaching, Beyond Beowulf, the first-ever sequel to the old English saga, Beowulf, and A Year with American Saints, co-authored with Lutheran Pastor G. Scott Cady, which presents, stories of 365 men and women of every Christian tradition who have helped shape American life over four centuries. Other books include A Traveler’s Prayer Book, an introduction to the Episcopal Church called Welcome to the Episcopal Church, and Re-Thinking Marriage, the complete background to the current debate over a definition of marriage.

Webber has given lectures and workshops on his various books in a number of states and has given readings from Beyond Beowulf in libraries and bookstores as well as on television. He has also lectured on Islam in the Connecticut area.

Webber grew up in Cuba, New York, and lived in Brooklyn, Tokyo, and Bronxville, New York after being ordained. He has climbed Mt. Fuji as well as the highest peaks in New York and New England, traveled widely in Europe and Asia, and makes several gallons of maple syrup annually to distribute to family and friends.

He now lives in San Francisco where he is enjoying city life after twenty years in rural Connecticut.

Know more about his projects here