avid Jones Peck was born in 1826 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to Sarah and John C. Peck. John Peck worked as a barber, wigmaker, and an African Methodist Episcopalian minister. Rev. Peck was also an abolitionist who was friends with William Lloyd Garrison and active with the Underground Railroad. By 13 years-old, David Peck caught the activist bug from his dad and served as president of the 40-member Pittsburgh Juvenile Anti-Slavery Society.1
David later helped break down barriers as the first African American to graduate with a medical degree from an American medical school in 1847 from Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. Of course, he had serious obstacles to overcome. He could only attend Rush after white students voted to approve of him. The challenges continued after graduation, such as when he was removed from an auction for medical books because of his complexion.2
David Peck soon married and began his practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but abandoned it after being whiteballed by other doctors in the city of brotherly love. Next, the Fugitive Slave Law threatened the liberty of every Black American, even those born free like Dr. Peck.3
These circumstances led the Pecks to follow the advice of friend and emigration champion, Dr. Martin R. Delany, to move to Guatemala. Dr. Peck became a respected physician in the city of San Juan del Norte. Unfortunately, American appetite for enslavement encroached upon his freedom there as well and he died in the Filibuster War.
Peck’s legacy lives on thanks to “The David Jones Peck MD Health Equity Scholarship,” which “was established in 2018 by the American Medical Association (AMA) General Counsel Brian Vandenberg.” Coincidentally, the AMA was founded in Chicago the same year Dr. Peck graduated.4
