Guide to the Augustus A. White III (Class of 1957) documents relating to his career as a surgeon during the Vietnam War, 1966-2015


John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title: Augustus A. White III (Class of 1957) documents relating to his career as a surgeon during the Vietnam War
Date range: 1966-2015
Creator: Shufro, Cathy
Extent: 0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract: This collection contains magazine articles and photographs related to the career of Augustus A. White III (Brown, Class of 1957) as an orthopedic surgeon. He is a Vietnam Veteran. He served 2 years as an army surgeon a year of which, August 1966-August 1967, he was stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam. During that year he also volunteered during his off-duty time at the St. Francis Leprosarium run by Catholic nuns in a nearby village where he treated patients fighting leprosy. He went on to have a distinguished career as the first African American to graduate from Stanford Medical School in 1961 and held positions in orthopedic surgery at Yale Medical School, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He has also been keenly interested in issues of race, bias, and disparity in medical care and education. In 2011 he founded Harvard's Culturally Competent Care Education Program to begin combating the unconscious and conscious biases of health care professionals and educators.
Language of materials: English
Repository: John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number: AMS.1U.2016.002

Scope & content

This collection contains articles by and about Augustus A. White III relating to his career as an orthopedic surgeon. The 2 articles written by him focus on his service as an army surgeon in Vietnam during the war and his reflections on that service and the meaning of the war. The 3 photographs included in the collection are from his time in Vietnam. The other 2 articles were written about Augustus White for the Brown Alumni Bulletin. They also provide information about his Vietnam War experiences. They also highlight his work to combat the prejudices inherent in health care and medical education.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Topics

Arrangement

This small collection is arranged alphabetically.

Biographical / Historical

Augustus A. White III was born on June 4, 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee. His father was a physician and his mother was a librarian and high school teacher. He attended high school at the Mount Hermon School for Boys prep school (now Northfield Mount Hermon) in Massachusetts. He then graduated from Brown University in 1957. While at Brown he became the first African American to become a fraternity brother when he rushed Delta Upsilon fraternity. He went on to be the first African American to graduate from Stanford Medical School in 1961 and the first surgical resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1963. He is a Vietnam Veteran serving for 2 years as an army surgeon. He was stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam during August 1966 – August 1967. During that year he also volunteered during his off-duty time at the St. Francis Leprosarium run by Catholic nuns in a nearby village where he treated patients fighting leprosy. After his army service he received his PhD in orthopedic biomechanics from the Karolinska Institute in Gothenburg, Sweden where he also met and married his wife Anita.

He has had a long and distinguished career including full Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Yale Medical School, chief of the orthopedic surgery department at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and Director of the Harvard Medical School among many other positions. He has written over 200 scientific and clinical publications including books, chapters and articles on the biomechanics of the spine, fracture healing, and surgical and non-surgical care of the spine.

White has also been keenly interested in issues of bias, prejudice, and disparities in medical care and education. While a member of the Board of Fellows (1981-1992) at Brown University he lead an effort of improve race relationships at Brown which culminated with the report The American University and the Pluralist Ideal in 1986. He has pursued the topic of prejudice within the medical system with increased energy since his retirement from the operating room in 2001. He wrote Seeing Patients: Unconscious Bias in Health Care in 2011 and has established Harvard's Culturally Competent Care Education Program.

He and his wife Anita have three daughters including Atina White, Brown Class of 1998.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials: Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation: Augustus A. White III (Class of 1957) documents relating to his career as a surgeon during the Vietnam War, AMS.1U.2016.002, Brown University Library.
Contact information: John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: Documentation gathered by Prof. Beth Taylor from internet sources during 2016 as part of the Vietnam Veterans Archive at Brown University.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Karen Eberhart.
Encoding: This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-27.
Descriptive rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Materials

Part of the Vietnam Veterans Archive (Brown University).

Inventory

Box 1, Folder 1 Article: "The Doctor of Prejudice" written by Beth Schwartzapfel, published in the Brown Alumni Bulletin.
7 pages

Contents Note: This article is a biography of Augustus A. White III and his groundbreaking career as an African American orthopedic surgeon. It also highlights his work to combat the biases and poor cross-cultural communication in health care and medical education that result in disparities of care for minorities, women, homosexuals, the elderly and the obese.

 2011 September/October
Box 1, Folder 1 Article: "Notes and Impressions at Vietnam Memorial March 11, 1989" written by Augustus A. White III, published in The Boule Journal, Vol. 54, No. 1, pages 24-25.
Contents Note: This article relates White's experience and his impressions during and after his visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC.

 1990 Spring
Box 1, Folder 1 Article: "Vietnam Memoirs: River of Blood" written by Dr. Augustus A. White III, published in Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin, pages 16-24.
9 pages

Contents Note: This article is a memoir of Dr. White's experiences as an army surgeon in Vietnam during the war from August 1966 to August 1967. He was assigned to the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam. He relates the long hours in the operating room, his feelings about the war and the army system, and negotiating relationships with his white colleagues as an African American surgeon. During his off-duty hours he traveled to a nearby village to treat the patients at the St. Francis leprosarium run by Catholic nuns from Europe and Vietnam.

 1993 Spring
Box 1, Folder 1 Article: "The View from the O.R." written by Cathy Shufro, published in Brown Alumni Bulletin.
Contents Note: This article profiles 2 military surgeons and tells of their experiences. Chris Coppola '90 served in Iraq during 2005 and Augustus A. White III '57 served in Vietnam during 1966-1967. Chris Coppola treated US military soldiers and Iraqi civilians including children injured during the fighting. Augustus A. White treated US military soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers and also assisted at the St. Francis Leprosarium hospital in a nearby village during his off-duty time. White also talks about the racism that he faced as an African American man in the military.

 2007 May/June
Box 1, Folder 1 Biography: "Augustus White" by American Program Bureau, published on their website.
Contents Note: This biography provides comprehensive information about the career of Augustus A. White III and his many positions, publications, awards, honors and accomplishments.

 2015
Box 1, Folder 1 Correspondence: Elizabeth S. Taylor and David Taylor (Class of 1966) to Dr. Augustus A. White III inviting him to participate in the Vietnam Veterans Archive project
 2015 December 15
Box 1, Folder 1 Correspondence: John A. Feagin to Augustus White
4 pages

Contents Note: A letter from John Feagin in which he provides a brief essay he titled "Memories of Gus: Race, War and Combat Surgery." Feagin and White served together at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. Feagin describes the work they did and how race was a factor for other members of the hospital staff in their interactions with Gus White.

 2016 March 17
Box 1, Folder 1 Photograph: Dr. Augusts A. White III with 5 nuns at St. Francis Leprosarium in Vietnam
Contents Note: Dr. Augustus A. White III served as an army surgeon at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam from August 1966-August 1967. During his year in Vietnam he also volunteered at the St. Francis Leprosarium run by Catholic nuns in Vietnam during his off-duty hours treating local Vietnamese leprosy patients. This photograph of White with 5 of the nuns was taken during his last visit to the leprosy hospital.

 1966
Box 1, Folder 1 Photograph: Dr. Augusts A. White III treating a patient at the St. Francis Leprosarium in Vietnam
Contents Note: Dr. Augustus A. White III served as an army surgeon at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam from August 1966-August 1967. During his year in Vietnam he also volunteered at the St. Francis Leprosarium run by Catholic nuns in Vietnam during his off-duty hours treating local Vietnamese leprosy patients. This photograph shows White treating a patient with assistance from a Vietnamese nurse.

 1966
Box 1, Folder 1 Photograph: Dr. Augusts A. White III standing next to a building in Vietnam
Contents Note: Dr. Augustus A. White III served as an army surgeon at the 85th Evacuation Hospital in the Qui Nhon region of Vietnam from August 1966-August 1967. This photograph is a portrait of White wearing his sunglasses and hat standing next to a wooden building.

 1966