Edward Mayfield Boyle (24 June 1878 – 21 November 1936) was a

Sierra Leone Creole The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Sierra Leone Liberated African, Liberated Af ...

medical doctor who attended

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. Boyle, was one of the first West Africans to attend

Howard University College of Medicine The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D.C ...

and was the maternal uncle of Edna Elliott-Horton, who was possibly the first West African woman to graduate from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

Early life

Edward Mayfield Boyle was born on 24 June 1878 in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, Sierra Leone, to Charles Boyle and Sarah Easmon, both of whom were of African-American descent. Sarah Easmon was a member of the

Easmon family The Easmon family or the ''Easmon Medical Dynasty'' is a Sierra Leone Creole medical dynasty of African-American descent originally based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Easmon family has ancestral roots in the United State ...

. Boyle was a maternal nephew of

Albert Whiggs Easmon Albert Whiggs Easmon (1865 – 21 May 1921) was a Sierra Leonean Creole medical doctor and the half-brother of Dr John Farrell Easmon. Easmon was among the first group of Sierra Leoneans to qualify as a medical doctor after getting a degree fr ...

, a leading physician and surgeon in Freetown, and

John Farrell Easmon John Farrell Easmon, MRCS, LM, LKQCP, MD, CMO (30 June 1856 – 9 June 1900), was a prominent Sierra Leonean Sierra Leone Creole people, Creole doctor in the British Gold Coast who served as Chief Medical Officer during the 1890s. Easmon ...

, one-time Chief Medical Officer of the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

who coined the term "

Blackwater fever Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria infection in which red blood cells burst in the bloodstream (hemolysis), releasing hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. The disease ...

". Boyle attended the Wesleyan (Methodist) Boys' High School in Freetown, and attended

Zion Methodist Church, Wilberforce Street Zion Methodist Church, Wilberforce Street is a historic Settler church established by the Nova Scotian Settlers in 1792 and the present building was constructed in the early to middle of the nineteenth century. History Zion Methodist Church, Wilb ...

, a Settler church founded by the early African-American founders of the Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown. He was an ideological disciple of Edward Wilmot Blyden, a

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

pan-Africanist Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

scholar who taught in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Education and medical career

Boyle obtained a scholarship and financial assistance to attend

and qualified as a medical doctor. Boyle completed courses at

and

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 ...

Death

Boyle died in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, on 21 November 1936 and was survived by his wife Bertha and daughter Leone B., Son’s Blyden and Mayfield Jr.

Sources

*Adell Patton Jr., ''Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa'' *"Boyle, Edward Mayfield", ''Who's Who in Colored America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in America'' (New York: Who's Who in Colored America Corporation, 1937) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Edward Sierra Leone Creole people Easmon family (Sierra Leone) Sierra Leonean people of African-American descent Expatriates from the British Empire Howard University College of Medicine alumni African-American physicians Harvard Medical School alumni 1874 births 1935 deaths Sierra Leonean expatriates in the United States