Frank Jeremiah Armstrong ( – November 2, 1946) was an American physician who was the first African-American graduate of

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

. He was the assistant of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

and later became a physician. He was murdered in his office in 1946, possibly by a burglar after a hospital's narcotics.

Personal life and career

Armstrong graduated in 1900 from Cornell College as the first African American to do so. His nickname at Cornell was "Buck". He began playing

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

as a part of the Marion Ravens when he was 13 years old, and he played during the 1890s. Armstrong was a part of the college's Adelphian Literary Society and was a secretary of the society for one spring. In 1900, his final year in college, he was the captain of the baseball team. Booker T. Washington was announced as a speaker by Armstrong during the commencement ceremony, leading to Washington hiring Armstrong as his assistant. He received a medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1912 (which became the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1913). Armstrong became a physician in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was a part of the

Chicago Medical Society The Chicago Medical Society is the medical society for Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1850. History The society was founded in 1850 and is one of the oldest medical societies in the United States. The first president was L ...

, the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

, and the

National Medical Association The National Medical Association (NMA) is the largest and oldest national organization representing African American physicians and their patients in the United States. The NMA is a 501(c)(3) national professional and scientific organization repr ...

. His college commencement address is in the 1905 book ''A Record of the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the College'', published by Cornell College.

Death

Armstrong was murdered in his office by gunshot on November 2, 1946, when he was 69 years old by a suspected burglar, but nothing was stolen. His body was found by a patient who called for help. He was survived by his wife Jessie and a $1,000 reward was offered by the police. It was later suspected that the murderer was part of a group after a narcotics safe at Providence hospital.

Legacy

A student residential house and community center on the campus of Cornell College was named in his honor in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Frank Jeremiah 1870s births 1946 deaths Cornell College alumni African-American physicians People murdered in Chicago Booker T. Washington Deaths by firearm in Illinois