Black History Matters 365

BH365 Sunday Memoirs: Ministers In Medicine: W.H.C. Stephenson - African American Medical Doctor and Minister

May 01, 2022 BHM365 is a weekly podcast series hosted by Jo Scaife a Marketplace Entrepreneur
Black History Matters 365
BH365 Sunday Memoirs: Ministers In Medicine: W.H.C. Stephenson - African American Medical Doctor and Minister
Show Notes

Sunday Memoirs
Ministers in Medicine

W.H.C. Stephenson
Doctor and Preacher



Sunday Memoirs  takes a look back in the past to find inspiration for the future. We will take time to share great inspiring accounts and building moments of the Black Church and others, depicting religious traditions and spiritual awakenings that contributed to the foundation of the church and our faith today.  At times we will share inspirational words to educate and encourage individuals on their journey of faith in God.

For the month of May, starting this Sunday we will introduce a series called "Ministers In Medicine", focusing on the preachers that risk their lives in many cases during enslavement to spread the message of the gospel and start some of our greatest churches and traditions of the day while at the same time practicing medicine. We start our journey with W.H. Stephenson.

W. H. C. Stephenson (c.1825 – April 6, 1899) was a doctor, preacher, and civil rights activist in Virginia City, Nevada, and Omaha, Nebraska. He was probably the first black doctor in Nevada and worked for the rights of blacks in that city. He was noted for his efforts in support of black suffrage in Nevada at the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. He helped found the first Baptist church in Virginia City. He moved to Omaha in the late 1870s and continued his medical, religious, and civil rights work. He founded another Baptist church in Omaha, and was a prominent Republican and activist in the city.

These preachers did what they could during the 1800's to help the community of the enslavement.  Although it had been through some hard changes and some endured harsh times in history, the black church and the preacher himself has always been a  safe haven for people of African descent during the unrelenting onslaughts of enslavement, racist bigotry, Jim Crow and other forms of oppression and suppression from before the Civil War all the way through and past the Civil Rights Movement. Even today, it still rings true of some preachers and their churches being a pillar in the community. Although,  preachers today must ask, are we still influential to our communities and making sure that they are taken care of any every way possible medically and spiritually? Can we look back at some of the preachers during enslavement and learn from their relentless faith in God and apply this to today? Its a challenge, but we must ask and face the truth.


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Music By: Kirk Whalum, Title Song: Wade In the Water
Edited by: Juels N. Evans, Sound Engineer
Picture/Content: Blackpast.com and WK