Dr. Andrew Burton Medical Certificate 1932
Record of the Month! In honor of Black History Month, we are featuring the medical certificate of Dr. Andrew Samuel Burton, who became the first African American doctor in Licking County in 1932. Andrew Samuel Burton was born November 20, 1893 in Brownstown, Jamaica to Samuel and Sarah Burton. At the time Jamaica was part of the British West Indies, making Andrew, his parents, and four younger siblings subjects of the British Crown. In 1911, Samuel and Sarah decided to move their family to the United States, eventually settling in Brooklyn, New York. When the United States entered the First World War on April 6, 1917, the war had been raging across Europe for two years claiming the lives of millions. The combatants, the Triple Entente and the Central Powers, each had a well-functioning recruitment and mobilization program by this stage in the war in an effort to outpace the other. However, the United States, which was unprepared for war had to begin rapid recruitment, training, and