By Ervin Dyer
Photography by Rayni Shiring, University of Pittsburgh
More than a century after John Paul Golden made history as a Black graduate of the institution that would become the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, artifacts of his pioneering medical career are finding a new home at Pitt.
On Sept. 28, Dollar Bank donated Golden’s black leather doctor’s bag and his original 1888 medical license to the History of Health Sciences collection at Pitt’s Falk Library in Alan Magee Scaife Hall. Also joining the collection are medical tools and supplies used by Samuel Golden IV, a great-great-great nephew of John Paul Golden.
Samuel Golden graduated from Pitt’s School of Medicine in 1980 and became a specialist in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. He grew up playing physician with his uncle’s medical bag and later used it while in medical school and in his practice as a physician. The transfer of items brings physical reminders of a multigenerational Pittsburgh medical story to the University where that story began.
“Having these items donated to the Falk Library helps remind us of Golden’s remarkable legacy,” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean, School of Medicine. “They are a tangible symbol of how medical education in Pittsburgh has been shaped by the individuals who opened doors more than 100 years ago for future generations.”
Golden had been a customer of Dollar Bank, which had acquired his doctor’s bag and medical license for its archives. Bank officials and the Golden family recently determined that Falk Library’s History of Health Sciences collection was an appropriate permanent home because of Golden’s connection to Pitt and the family’s desire for his story to inspire more African American students to pursue careers in medicine.
Beginning in the 1880s, Golden studied at the Western University of Pennsylvania, Pitt’s predecessor, taking courses that included algebra, trigonometry, German, zoology and natural history.
His path eventually led to the newly established Western Pennsylvania Medical College. The school enrolled its first class in 1886 near West Penn Hospital in what is now Polish Hill. Its students entered medicine as the profession was moving increasingly toward laboratory science and clinical training.
In 1888, Golden was one of 32 students in the medical college’s second graduating class and became its first African American graduate.
Soon afterward, as a 24-year-old, he paid $1 for his medical license and established a practice at 37 James Street in Allegheny City. Just one month after receiving his degree, he walked into Dollar Bank, opened a savings account and proudly signed “M.D.” after his name.
Pam Golden, a Pitt graduate who is a great-great-great niece of John P. Golden, and the sister of Samuel Golden, grew up in a medical family. Her father was a pharmacist, and her mom was a nurse. She said their journey to their professions was not easy and she hopes the donation will “encourage others not to forget history and to appreciate what it takes to achieve goals and see possibility in John and Samuel’s stories.”
John P. Golden’s own career demonstrated that possibility.
Fluent in seven languages, he built a successful practice serving Black Pittsburghers as well as German and other European immigrants. His career challenged the racial barriers of an era when opportunities for Black physicians were sharply constrained.
He was involved in efforts that helped lead to the creation of the National Medical Association, the professional organization established for African American physicians at a time when discrimination limited their participation in other medical organizations. His medical bag had been on loan to the Heinz History Center, where it was included in the exhibition “Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation.” Now it and the other donated items will become more than artifacts behind glass.
Cassie Nespor, History of Health Sciences and Special Collections coordinator at Falk Library, plans to use the Golden materials to connect with high school and undergraduate students considering careers in medicine and the health sciences. She is exploring partnerships with Pitt’s Pre-Health Resource Center and NextGen Healthcare and plans an online exhibit featuring photographs of the artifacts and the stories of both Golden physicians.
The library's History of Health Sciences collection itself grew out of materials once held by Pitt’s Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, among others, and has expanded through donations from Pitt faculty and alumni.
For the Golden family, the donation of these items to Pitt is particularly resonant. John Paul Golden’s medical education began at a young Pittsburgh institution finding its own place in a rapidly changing profession. He used that education to build a practice, cross racial boundaries and help create opportunities for Black physicians who followed him.
Nearly 140 years later, the bag he carried and the license that authorized him to practice medicine have returned to the University whose medical history he helped shape—not simply to preserve the past, but to also help another generation imagine what might be possible.