Numa P. G. Adams (February 17, 1885 – August 29, 1940) was a dean at

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 ...

from 1929 until his death, in 1940. He was the first

African American 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 ...

to hold the position of dean of the College of Medicine at

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

Adams was born in Delaplane,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He received his early education at a country school run by his uncle, Robert Adams. His grandmother, Amanda Adams, was a midwife who assisted a Dr. Green in delivering babies. She shared with Dr. Green her knowledge of herbal medicine and inspired his scientific interest and collection of herbs. When Adams was thirteen, his family moved to

Steelton, Pennsylvania Steelton is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Harrisburg. The population was 6,263 at the 2020 census. The borough is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. History After initi ...

, where he bought a second-hand cornet with he learned to play with the help of a storekeeper. His musical skill allowed him to play in orchestras, such as the Lyric Orchestra and Louis Brown's Orchestra, to help pay for tuition in high school, college, and medical school. Adams married

Osceola Macarthy Adams Osceola Marie Macarthy Adams (June 13, 1890 – November 11, 1983), known by the stage name Osceola Archer, is known as one of the first Black actresses to appear on Broadway for her 1934 role in "Between Two Worlds." Speaking of Adams' decade-l ...

, one of the founders of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

. Numa was a member of the

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity, Beta chapter.

Education

Adams attended public school in Steelton, Pennsylvania, and graduated from high school in 1905. In 1907, he left the state to enroll in Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1911, he received a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Howard. A year later, he received a M.A. degree in chemistry from Columbia University, and in 1924, received his M.D. from the Rush Medical School of the University of Chicago.

Career

Adams' teaching career began after he graduated high school. He spent a year substitute-teaching in

, then taught seventh grade for a year in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. After earning his master's degree in chemistry the following year, he sat on the faculty board of the chemistry department at Howard. By 1918, he had progressed from assistant to associate professor. In 1919, Adams decided an education in chemistry was not sufficient for his career and resigned as chair of the chemistry department to pursue a medical degree. After graduating from medical school, he interned in a St. Louis, Missouri hospital. He also taught neurology and psychiatry to nursing students at Provident Hospital. He served as assistant medical director of the Victory Life Insurance Company from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, he was made a dean of

, the first African American dean at the Howard University School of Medicine. As dean, Adams significantly changed the curriculum at

. He hired highly trained professors by offering generous starting salaries. He increased the acceptance standards for students to the university. He received criticism for this decision, but ultimately, his claim of educating students to their highest potential was proven true; of the last four classes that Adams admitted, no student failed annual board examinations, while in the past, at least one student failed each year. In his final years as dean, he proposed the integration of

and

Freedman's Hospital Howard University Hospital, previously known as Freedmen's Hospital, is a major hospital located in Washington, D.C., built on the site of the previous Griffith Stadium. The hospital has served the African-American community in the area for over ...

. In 1937, the secretary of the department performed an analysis that supported the prospective merger. The department thus decided Howard Medical School should take control of

. After some initial protest, primarily from the city's

Medico-Chirurgical Society The Medical and Chirurgical Society of London was a learned society of physicians and surgeons which was founded in 1805 by 26 personalities in these fields who had left the Medical Society of London (founded 1773) because of disagreement with th ...

, the transfer of Freedmen's Hospital to Howard Medical School was completed in 1940.

Legacy

Aside from his positions as dean at Howard University School of Medicine the Provident Hospital School of Nursing, he served as a member of the National Medical Association, the board of directors of the Tuberculosis Association of the District of Columbia, the Advisory Health Council of Washington, the Council on Social Agencies, and the Cook County Physicians Association in Illinois. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Nuns Howard University alumni Howard University faculty Rush Medical College alumni 1940 deaths 1885 births People from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American university and college faculty deans 20th-century American academics