Nathan Francis Mossell

Nathan Francis Mossell
Mossell circa 1890-1910
Born	July 27, 1856(1856-07-27) Hamilton, Canada
Died	October 27, 1946(1946-10-27) (aged 90)
Education	Lincoln University University of Pennsylvania (1882) M.D.
Spouse	Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill
Children	Florence and Mary Campbell Mossell
Parents	Aaron Albert Mossell I Eliza Bowers
Relatives	Aaron Albert Mossell, brother Sadie Tanner Mossell, niece, Paul Robeson, nephew Charles Hicks Bustill, father-in-law

Nathan Francis Mossell (July 27, 1856 – October 27, 1946) was the first African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1882. He did post-graduate training at hospitals in Philadelphia and London. In 1888 he was the first black physician elected as member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society. He helped found the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School in West Philadelphia in 1895, which he led as chief-of-staff and medical director until he retired in 1933.

Early life and education

Nathan Mossell was born in Hamilton, Canada in 1856, the fourth of six children. Both his parents were born in Maryland but had moved their family (with three small children) to Canada in 1853 to escape discrimination. His father Aaron Albert Mossell I (1824- ) was a brickmaker, the grandson of slaves, whose father had purchased his freedom. His great-grandfather was from West Africa. His mother was Eliza Bowers (1824- ), a free black whose family had been transported to Trinidad when she was a child. Mossell and Eliza met and married in Baltimore after her return. In Canada the senior Aaron Mossell went to school to become literate and set up his own brick-making business.^[1]

Nathan's siblings were the following:^[1]:

• May (1848 - ), born Maryland;
• Charles (1850 - ), born Maryland, graduated from Lincoln University and studied theology in Boston; became a missionary in Haiti;
• Boy, (c. 1853-c. 1870), born Maryland; died in Lockport, New York;
• Alvarilla (b. 1857- ), born Hamilton, Canada; joined her brother Charles as a missionary in Haiti; and
• Aaron Albert Mossell II (1863-1951), b. Hamilton, Canada; he was the first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania law school; he married Mary Louisa Tanner (1866-?).

Nathan was the uncle of Aaron's daughter Sadie Tanner Mossell (1898-1989), who in 1921 was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States.^[2]

Medical career

Mossell did his post-graduate training with Dr. D. Hayes Agnew in the Out-Patient Surgical Clinic of the University Hospital. His post-graduate studies included an internship in the Guy's, Queens College and St. Thomas hospitals in London, England.

In 1888 Mossell was elected to membership in the Philadelphia County Medical Society, the first black physician offered membership. In August 1895 he was the leading figure in the founding of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School. He served as chief-of-staff and medical director there until his retirement in 1933.^[2]

In 1948 Douglass Hospital merged with another predominantly black hospital, Mercy. In 1955 the new Mercy-Douglass Hospital building opened on Woodland Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets, in West Philadelphia.^[2]

Marriage

He married Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill (1948-1855) on July 12, 1893 in Philadelphia. Gertrude was the mixed-race daughter of Charles Hicks Bustill (1816-1890), who was of African, European and Lenape ancestry, and Emily Robinson. Together they had the following children: Florence Mossell and Mary Campbell Mossell.^[2]

He was the uncle by marriage of Paul Robeson and his siblings, children of his wife's sister Maria Louisa Bustill and her husband William Drew Robeson.

Death

He died on October 27, 1946 in Philadelphia.^[3]

See also

• Frederick Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Aaron Albert Mossell II", Penn Biographies, University of Pennsylvania, accessed 31 March 2011
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Nathan Mossell". University of Pennsylvania. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1800s/mossell_nathan_f.html. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
3. ^ "Dr. Nathan F. Mossell Oldest Active Negro Physician, Uncle of Paul Robeson". Associated Press in New York Times. October 28, 1946. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10D16F93B5C107A93CBAB178BD95F428485F9. Retrieved 2009-02-18. "Oldest Active Negro Physician, Uncle of Paul Robeson, Was 90. Dr. Nathan Francis Mossell, said by associates to be the oldest practicing Negro physician in the country, died here yesterday ..." 

Persondata
Name	Mossell, Nathan Francis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 27, 1856
Place of birth	Hamilton, Canada
Date of death	October 27, 1946
Place of death