Night Doctors, also known as Night Riders, Night Witches, Ku Klux Doctors, and Student Doctors, are bogeymen of African American folklore with some factual basis.

Body snatching Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from ...

from graves and enforced medical experimentation led to the development of African American folklore stories that told of doctors referred to as "Night Doctors" who would abduct, kill, and dissect bodies. These Night Doctors' purpose was to further prevent

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

, and black workers from leaving for the

Northern United States The Northern United States, commonly referred to as the American North, the Northern States, or simply the North, is a geographical or historical region of the United States. History Early history Before the 19th century westward expansion, the "N ...

. The term night doctors is often broadly used, referring to those who steal, buy, or practice on African American corpses to further their medical knowledge. At this time, the cadaver shortage among medical schools in the south led to people digging up their graves in the night to steal bodies, and slave owners selling their deceased to make some extra money. Grave robbing often happened in poor communities where they had no means to have or fund any deterrence of grave robbing or protection of their cemeteries. Night doctors preying on these marginalized communities were often overlooked by wealthier, more powerful people in the communities, and inevitably led to the fleeing of African Americans in the early to mid 20th century, now known as The Great Migration. The African American community's distrust of the medical occupation and doctors predates the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, where doctors unethically withheld treatment from African Americans with the disease to use them as an experimental basis for untreated

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

. When night doctors started emerging, the bodies of southern blacks were a valuable resource for dissection and

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

studies in medical colleges. The horrors night doctors caused continued even after the Civil war as they kept stealing African American bodies for dissection. Unethical practices against African Americans led to fear and distrust in the medical community.

Body snatching

Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the demand for

cadaver A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...

s exceeded the supply when hands-on dissection became popular in

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

s. The importance of human bodies in explaining general

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and fundamental methods like

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

has existed since ancient times. However, the need was intensified in the 19th century by the increased acceptability of dissecting human bodies. The necessity for dead bodies was met by

grave-robbing Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

and using slave bodies.

The government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

put into place various countermeasures to deter grave robbers. However, these measures took time and money. Therefore, African American bodies were the most common ones to be robbed since they were legally, economically, and socially disadvantaged. Hence, the most frequent targets of grave robbers were

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, and the

impoverished Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

. Grave robbers avoided stealing white American bodies because the dissection of white cadavers carried far greater risks for

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

s. The bodies of African Americans were often sold to chattel for dissection by slave owners after their death. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence suggesting that the bodies of impoverished people, African Americans, and underprivileged individuals were used to improve the medical training of white elites. Grave robbers and their crimes were frequently overlooked by white Americans since grave robbing had no direct impact on them. The tales of night doctors, who bought and stole bodies, became part of African American history and traditions. Body snatching increased during the post-revolutionary period because medical

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s started to perform

dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause o ...

s rather than simply observing

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

s. In the early 19th century, most states legislated against grave robbery. Even though grave robbing was formally prohibited, the penalty was comparatively light since grave robbing was considered

misconduct Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misc ...

rather than a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. The punishment for grave robbing was a possible fine and a short period of

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

. Due to these permissive attitudes, relatives of the lately departed had to take it upon themselves to watch their loved ones' graves. Following this, grave robbery was very frequent even though there were laws prohibiting it in some states. Because of grave robbing, several

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

s took place between 1765 and 1852, the most well-known of which was New York Doctors' Riot of 1788. In the New York Doctors' riot of 1788, the unauthorized acquisition of bodies from the graves of the recently departed sparked a massive outburst of anger and dissatisfaction among impoverished people, specifically aimed at doctors and medical trainees. In January 1789, a year after the riot, a law was successfully passed that regulated the appropriate treatment of dead bodies, with heavy penalties inflicted on anyone who disobeyed the law. The Warburton Anatomy Act of 1832, which handed unclaimed remains to

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s and eventually ended grave robbery in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, was instrumental in enacting legislation in the United States that curtailed grave robbing.

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

passed an identical, albeit less harshly worded, Anatomy Act of 1831, which legalized the use of dead bodies for dissection and anatomical studies. Most states soon passed similar legislation, and by the turn of the century, cadavers were almost entirely sourced from unclaimed remains. An example of a medical college that used the bodies of African Americans, immigrants, and impoverished people is the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

. Excavations at the Medical College of Georgia in 1989 yielded more than 9,000 bones. No records exist, and none of the remains have been identified, but it fits the inflammatory story to claim that they were mainly from

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

individuals and approximately 80% of those were African Americans. In addition to being the majority of cadavers, many teaching

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s would only perform new live

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

techniques and demonstrations on African American

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...

s. The consequences of employing the majority of African American bodies led to the

dehumanization Dehumanization is the denial of full humanness in others and the cruelty and suffering that accompanies it. A practical definition refers to it as the viewing and treatment of other persons as though they lack the mental capacities that are c ...

of African American people in the medical system, a lack of confidence between African American people and medical

expert An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable s ...

s, and a reluctance among African American people to donate their bodies for medical purposes. The inordinate use of African American bodies for

and medical studies unwittingly formed a view of black people as nothing more than medical experimentation material. The usage of African American bodies as experimental subjects has a long history in the United States, dating back to the use of Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells for research purposes without her proper consent to the

Tuskegee Syphilis Study The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (informally referred to as the Tuskegee Experiment or Tuskegee Syphilis Study) was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Cente ...

. In both of these instances, patients did not give consent to the medical projects and research being done on them. They were not informed and were blatantly misled. Medical

injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but n ...

to people of color still remains, leaving a mistrust of the medical system throughout the country.

Needle Men and the Black Bottle Men

In New Orleans,

Charity Hospital Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

l (now the

Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (MCLNO) was the name of two teaching hospitals in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Both hospitals were part of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orlean ...

) was a teaching hospital that needed cadavers for their students which is why they had a variation of Night Doctors called the "Needle Men." This hospital was known for many different racist incidents. In 1926, a sign prohibited black people to enter through the front door and forced these individuals to use the back door. The eponymous Needle Men would poke unsuspecting individuals in the arm, resulting in death. Several other explanations for these deaths were suggested, such as

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

. In 1924, there was a case where a man would poke women with a

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

which resulted in their deaths. Ultimately, the substance in the needles caused people to die. From a quote taken from the collection of Louisiana Folk Tales, it's apparent that people were aware of what was going on at the time and feared being victim to the Needle Men.There were also students at Charity Hospital that were referred to as "Black Bottle Men." The black bottle would be a poison given upon entrance to Charity Hospital, and the patient would die shortly after drinking the black bottle. It is now thought that the black bottle is referred to as cascara (

Rhamnus purshiana ''Frangula purshiana'' (cascara, cascara buckthorn, cascara sagrada, bearberry, and in the Chinook Jargon, chittem stick and chitticum stick; syn. ''Rhamnus purshiana'') is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to western N ...

) mixed with

milk of magnesia Magnesium hydroxide is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Mg(OH)2. It occurs in nature as the mineral brucite. It is a white solid with low solubility in water (). Magnesium hydroxide is a common component of antacids, such as milk ...

, a laxative is commonly given to admitted patients of the era. It is unclear how a mild laxative could kill, but the myth continues that these bodies were used by medical students as cadavers for dissections. Charity Hospital did not have sole responsibility for "Needle Men" or "Black Bottle Men."

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

(the teaching hospital of Johns Hopkins University) was believed to be another source. From 1898 to 1904, the cadavers used by

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

were African American which is highly disproportional to the surrounding population at the time. Personal anecdotes about these "Needle Men" or "Black Bottle Men" show their impact on the Black community. A woman from the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks states, "You'd be surprised how many people disappeared in East Baltimore when I was a girl. I'm telling you, I lived here in the fifties when they got Henrietta, and we weren't allowed to go anywhere near Hopkins. When it got dark and we were young, we had to be on the steps, or Hopkins might get us." Even though Needle Men and Black Bottle Men are no longer around, they have had a lasting impact on the black communities surrounding the hospitals. There are still feelings of fear and distrust for medical professionals which can be detrimental to someone's health.

Modern day consequences

Since African Americans arrived in the United States, they were marginalized and forced to be test subjects in various ways. Many white people believe that they still had a right to their bodies even after death. For many slaves, death was thought of as the one time their body may rest and they will suffer no more. With the Night Doctors digging up bodies that were already laid to rest, a great fear swept across the African American community. The studies that were done on African Americans in our history were often done without any consent. Today, this plays a great role because it has left African Americans distrusting and wary of the medical system which has wronged them in the past. It has exaggerated the racial divides between blacks and whites. Even today, neighborhoods between white people and African Americans are often separated, leading to separations in their access to medical care as well. The information gathered from the studies on black

s benefits people who have easy access to health care, such as wealthy, white communities, rather than the communities of marginalized people who were unethically used to obtain the information. African American communities tend to be underfunded, with less access to

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, and

resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...

s. African Americans are also less likely to seek out medical care for fear of what may be done to them against their will. There have been instances that African Americans are denied pain medication because they are perceived to be in less pain or faking it since they are taken less seriously among medical professionals. Night doctors left many modern-day repercussions on black communities in search of medical care.

References

{{reflist Bogeymen Urban legends American folklore Fictional physicians African-American culture