Aaron Manasses McMillan (November 3, 1895June 1, 1980) was a medical missionary to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and a civic leader and legislator in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. He was elected to the

Nebraska House of Representatives The Nebraska House of Representatives was the lower house of the Nebraska Legislature during the days when Nebraska Territory, Nebraska was a territory from 1854 to 1867 and then again when Nebraska was a state from 1867 until 1937. In 1934, Nebras ...

in 1928 as a Republican and served one term. He then was invited by the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

and the Black

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

to serve as a medical missionary in

Galangue Galangue is a town and commune of Angola, located in the province of Huíla. American doctor Aaron Manasses McMillan served as a medical missionary to Galangue from 1931 to 1948. See also * Communes of Angola The Communes of Angola ( pt, ...

Portuguese West Africa Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

, where he worked from 1931 to 1948. After returning to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, he was involved in the Omaha Branch of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, served on the board of the

Omaha Housing Authority Omaha Housing Authority, or OHA, is the government agency responsible for providing public housing in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent organization of Housing in Omaha, Inc., a nonprofit housing developer for low-income housing. About OHA contr ...

, and continued to work as a medical doctor.

Early life

Mcmillan was born in

Cotton Plant, Arkansas Cotton Plant is a city in southern Woodruff County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 529. History In 1820, when settlers from neighboring states first came to the Cotton Plant area, it was c ...

, November 3, 1895, to Reverend Henry R. McMillan and his wife Sarah. He had two brothers, William and Samuel."American Board of Foreign Missions". ''Topeka Plaindealer'', Topeka, Kansas. Friday, September 6, 1929. Volume 30 Issue 36 page 3 On November 8, 1910, he married Willena Cooper of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. His ancestors were

Haitians Haitians ( French: , ht, Ayisyen) are the citizens of Haiti and the descendants in the diaspora through direct parentage. An ethnonational group, Haitians generally comprise the modern descendants of self-liberated Africans in the Caribbean te ...

and came to the United States in 1870. He claimed descent from slaves taken from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

in 1568 by

slave traders The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of en ...

Sir John Hawkins Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 12 November 1595) was a pioneering English naval commander, naval administrator and privateer. He pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Hawki ...

and

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

. McMillan graduated from

Cotton Plant Academy Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

in 1915, from

Bishop College Bishop College was a historically black college, founded in Marshall, Texas, United States, in 1881 by the Baptist Home Mission Society. It was intended to serve students in east Texas, where the majority of the black population lived at the t ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in 1919, and from

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first me ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1923."1930 Nebraska Blue Book", http://nlcs1.nlc.state.ne.us/statepubsonline/pubs/legisbios/leg1930-1931.pdf Willena also graduated from Bishop College in Dallas and taught at

Houston College Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a public community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy, and Stafford in Texas. It is notable for active ...

and

Texas A&M College Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, Tex ...

in Fort Worth. The couple had two sons, Aaron and Robert, born before leaving for Angola, and one daughter, Helen, born in Angola.Houston, Robert. "A Medical Plant Built on a Shoestring". ''Omaha World Herald''. Sunday, March 7, 1948. page 67 Aaron's father was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Omaha, and Aaron moved to Omaha in 1922 after visiting his father.Rich, Blanche A. "This Month We Salute". ''The Afro American''. Dec 4, 1948

Political career

McMillan was a last-minute addition to the 1928 primary ballot for the ninth district of the Nebraska House of Representatives, where he defeated dentist

John Andrew Singleton John Andrew Singleton (July 30, 1895 - August 1, 1970) was a civil rights activist, dentist, and member of the Nebraska House of Representatives. He served as president of the Omaha, Nebraska, and then the Jamaica, New York, branches of the NA ...

. He went on and won the seat in the November general election against Albert Kaplan (2,199 votes to 1,987). Before moving to Africa, he was a member of the Douglas County

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Committee and delegate to the state Republican convention.

Missionary work

In 1928, McMillan was invited by the

to become medical supervisor of a mission in Portuguese West Africa. In order to work in a Portuguese colony, McMillan needed Portuguese medical qualification, and on September 18, 1929, sailed on the SS ''Beringaria'' for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where he spent 18 months at the School of Tropical Medicine in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

doing post-graduate studies. He then traveled to

to a mission founded by Reverend Henry Curtis McDowell and his wife Bessie Fonvielle McDowell. McMillan and his wife arrived in 1931 as the first US medical missionaries in Portuguese West Africa. When the arrived, the hospital was nothing but a

mud hut A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

and had no beds, nurses, trained staff, or modern supplies. On his first day he was immediately active, removing a

goiter A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are caused by iodine deficiency. The term is ...

, performing

cataract surgery Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called "crystalline lens") that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract, and its replacement with an intraocu ...

, and removing a

gangrenous Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

finger. He generally worked in a suit and treated patients in a range of over . Supplies were limited, and his first sterilizer was fashioned from a used oil drum and a

tire-pressure gauge A tire-pressure gauge, or tyre-pressure gauge, is a pressure gauge used to measure the pressure of tires on a vehicle. Since tires are rated for specific loads at certain pressure, it is important to keep the pressure of the tire at the opti ...

. Patients often paid in kind, giving chickens, eggs, corn, and vegetables for their care. While Willena had no formal medical training, she also worked in hospital and in particular supervised an infant care clinic. The couple spoke

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and learned the local language of

Umbundu Umbundu, or South Mbundu (autonym umb, úmbúndú), one of many Bantu languages, is the most widely-spoken autochthonous language of Angola. Its speakers are known as '' Ovimbundu'' and are an ethnic group constituting a third of Angola's popul ...

, and they were very well liked and respected by the communities they served. The couple remained in Angola for 17 years, returning only for a short period in 1935. While in the United States, the couple met white doctor Willis F. Pierce of

Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa, Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township, Page County, Iowa, Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histor ...

, who promised a large donation in support of the hospital. This donation allowed the construction of a two-story brick building which was completed in 1938. Further donations by the Women's Association of the Middle Atlantic Conference of the Congregational and Christian Churches allowed the construction of a surgery unit. Over the years, the hospital's expansions covered containing 45 buildings, the two-story brick hospital, 130 beds, up-to-date equipment (including a new sterilizer), a chapel dedicated to Aaron's father, Reverend Henry R. McMillan, and training facilities for medical and business staff. McMillan left Angola in 1948 and was shortly replaced by Robert A. McGowan as head of the hospital

Return to Omaha

After his return, he constructed a hospital meant for people of all backgrounds that he dubbed "People's Hospital" on 20th and Grace in Omaha. People's Hospital closed after five years, and McMillan continued to work as a doctor in an office he had built for himself at that location. He was involved in the NAACP and served as chairman of the NAACP life membership committee in 1959. He also served on the Omaha Housing Authority Board from 1956 to 1967, and as chairman in 1964. Well respected in Omaha and throughout the country, he was often invited to speak about his experience. Along with his missionary experience and medicine in Africa, he spoke in favor of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

, black history, and education, extolling the virtues of

universal education Universal access to education is the ability of all people to have equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background or physical and mental disabilities. The term is used both in colleg ...

, especially in Africa. Willena also was active in civic affairs, serving for a time as board member of Uta Halee Girls Village and at one time heading the American

Leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

Mission for the Nebraska Council of Women. She died in 1970 in Omaha. Aaron died June 1, 1980, in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

."Dr Aaron McMillan Dies, Ex-Legislator, Missionary". ''Omaha World Herald''. Tuesday, June 3, 1980. page 6 On October 26, 1967, he received a minor gunshot wound in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, but fully recovered. In 1969 he was tried for

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

based on irregularities in his tax returns between 1959 and 1962. He eventually pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

to the charge and received three years probation."Doctor Put on Probation for Income Tax Evasion". ''Omaha World Herald''. Tuesday, November 25, 1969. page 2

Publications

*McMillan, Aaron M. "Through the Years in Medical Work in Africa", read before the sixth Annual Meeting of the Medical Association of the Protestant Missions of Angola, Quesua, June 1939, The Dondi Press

References

External links

"A Biography of Dr. Aaron M. McMillan"
by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Aaron Manasses 1895 births Republican Party members of the Nebraska House of Representatives People from Cotton Plant, Arkansas Bishop College alumni Baptist missionaries from the United States Activists for African-American civil rights 1980 deaths African-American life in Omaha, Nebraska African-American missionaries African-American state legislators in Nebraska American expatriates in Angola 20th-century American politicians Baptist missionaries in Angola Activists from Nebraska Baptists from Arkansas 20th-century Baptists 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics