Eliza Ann Grier

North Carolina · born or raised1864–1902

African-American physician

Born in Mecklenburg County
Died in Charlotte

physician, gynecologist, obstetrician

Recorded without a firm citation

Kept here, labelled, rather than mixed in above.

When I saw a colored woman doing all the work in cases of accouchement, and all the fee going to a white doctor who merely looked on, I asked myself, should I not get the fee myself?

I have no money and no source from which to get it, only as I work for every dollar. Do you know any way that might be provided for an emancipated slave to receive any help into this lofty profession? If you cannot do otherwise, then give me a chance, a fair chance.

I went to Philadelphia, studied medicine hard, procured my degree, and have come back to Atlanta where I have lived all my life, to practice my profession. Some of the best white doctors in the city have welcomed me and say that they will give me an even chance in the profession. That is all I ask.