Charles Howard Wright (September 20, 1918 – March 7, 2002)Dr Charles H. Wright
from findagrave..com (retrieved 6/9/09) was a Detroit physician and founder of the

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, or The Wright, is located in Detroit, Michigan in the U.S.; inside the city's Midtown Cultural Center is one of the world's oldest independent African American museums. Founded in 1965, ...

Early life

Charles H. Wright was born on the 18th of September 1918 in

Dothan, Alabama Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...

, United States of America. He graduated from Southeast High School (where?) in 1935.Charles H. Wright, MD
from the Kellogg African American Health Care Project (retrieved 6/9/09). He attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University), graduating in 1939, and entered

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 ...

, from which he graduated in 1943. Wright wanted to enter

Obstetrics and Gynecology Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

, but there was no slot available. Instead, he served two residencies in pathology, one at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and the second at Cleveland City Hospital in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Wright practiced general medicine in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

from 1946 until 1950, at which time the Harlem Hospital notified him of an opening in their Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program. He returned to New York and completed his residency there in 1953.

Practice

When Wright returned to Detroit, he received admitting privileges at the

Hutzel Women's Hospital Hutzel Women's Hospital is one of the eight institutions that compose the Detroit Medical Center. The hospital itself is connected to Harper University Hospital, on the midtown Detroit campus of the Medical Center. It is the only hospital in Southe ...

which served women. He become board certified as a general surgeon and OB/GYN specialist in 1955. He became a Senior Attending Physician at Hutzel Hospital until his retirement in 1986. He was also an attending physician at Harper-Grace Hospital, a senior attending physician at Sinai Hospital, and served as an assistant clinical professor of OB-GYN at Wayne State University School of Medicine Wright was assaulted a few times as a practicing physician, once notably in the winter of 1970, when a patient single-handedly lifted him in the air claiming that he assured her that she wouldn't feel a shot. Wright became a Senior Attending Physician at the Hutzel Women's Hospital until he had taken his retirement in 1986. The hospital was renamed as the Hutzel Women's Hospital in the honour of the late Eleonore Hutzel who was a nurse and social worker based in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

United States of America.

Public service

In 1960, Wright ordered funds for medical training for Africans in the United States through the Detroit Medical Society. Within the year of 1964-1965, Wright engaged in medical surveys in West Africa. He served as a physician during the civil rights marches in 1965 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Wright was the writer and publisher of the ''Medical Association Demand Equal Opportunity'', and also wrote two books on Paul Robeson: ''Robeson: Labor's Forgotten Champion'' and ''The Peace Advocacy of Paul Robeson''. In 1965, Wright opened the International Afro-American Museum on West Grand Boulevard.Museum Fact Page
from the Museum of African-American History (retrieved 6/9/09) The next year, he opened a traveling exhibit to tour the state. In 1978, the city of Detroit agreed to lease the museum a plot of land in Midtown. Groundbreaking for the new museum occurred in 1985, and the museum was renamed the Museum of African American History. A larger museum was built ten years later, opening in 1997. In 1998, the museum was renamed the

in dedication of Dr. Wright.

Personal life

Wright met and married Louise Lovett, a Librarian, from Chicago in 1950. They had 2 children, Stephanie Wright Griggs and Carla Wright MD. The Library at the Charles H Wright Museum is the Louise Lovett Library dedicated to Louise Wright for her work in creating the library. Louise Lovett Wright died in 1985. Wright met Roberta Hughes an accomplished educator, attorney and author who loved working with children. They were married in 1989. Mrs Hughes Wright had a son and daughter with her first husband, Wilbur B. Hughes Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Charles American civil rights activists People from Dothan, Alabama Physicians from Alabama 1918 births 2002 deaths Activists from Alabama African-American physicians 20th-century American physicians Wayne State University faculty Alabama State University alumni Meharry Medical College alumni