LOUISVILLE’S FIRST BLACK CHAMP

LOUISVILLE’S FIRST BLACK CHAMP

In 1872, Canadian-born Henry Fitzbutler was the first black graduate of the University of Michigan’s Medical School. Prior to graduating the U of M, he was Detroit’s first black medical student. Dr. Fitzbutler’s road to success and humanitarianism did not come easy, his father was enslaved and mother was an indentured servant from England who had escaped to Canada from the Virginia via the Underground Railroad. This was a risk many families took in order to achieve a sense of autonomy and agency over their future. The risk most definitely paid off. Fitzbutler moved to Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife Sarah and three children after graduating from the U of M, and lobbied the Kentucky legislature to allow the establishment of a medical school that could not exclude applicants because of race.

His wife Sarah was accomplished as well. After raising their six children, Sarah enrolled in the Louisville National Medical College and became the first African American woman to receive a degree in the state of Kentucky. The West End area of Louisville became a place where they would cultivate a sense of community and legacy for those living in the area. While living in Louisville, the Fitzbutler’s possessed relentless advocacy for equality, equity, inclusion, human rights and education for those denied. Louisville was…