Charles Herbert Garvin (1890-1968) was an African American physician, surgeon, civic leader, and author in Cleveland, Ohio. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he graduated from the Howard University school of medicine in 1915. During World War I, he became the first black physician commissioned in the Unites States Army, serving as a commanding officer in the 92nd Division. He arrived in Cleveland in 1916, and he practiced medicine, delivered speeches, and wrote many articles on the position of the African American physician in medicine. He worded for the advancement of African Americans within his profession and within the social structure of the city. He was a founder of the Dunbar Life Insurance Company and helped organize the Quincy Savings and Loan Company. A pioneer of integrated housing during an intense period of racial segregation in Cleveland, Garvin built a home on Wade Park Avenue in an exclusive allotment despite threats of violence and two bombings.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Charles H. Garvin
The Charles Herbert Garvin Papers, 1909-1965 and undated, consist of letters, speeches, magazine articles, newspaper clippings and research notes relating to Dr. Garvin, Black physicians in Cleveland and the United Staates, and various medical subjects.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, and the African American community there in the twentieth century. Those studying the history of black physicians in Cleveland and the United States will find this collection particularly useful. The collection contains Garvin's research and unpublished manuscript on the subject of "Africa's Contribution to Medicine" and additional research and articles by Garvin, particularly on the subject of black physicians in Cleveland and the United States.
The collection is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
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[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3328 Charles Herbert Garvin Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Mrs. Charles H. Garvin in 1968.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.