"Described as the “most untalked about, unappreciated, unknown giant in the African American community,” by Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., Vivien Thomas received an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1976, and while this was undoubtedly memorable, the decades which preceded this moment were equally unforgettable. In Nashville, Tennessee, this high school honors graduate dreamed of becoming a physician. Thomas, a skilled carpenter, saved for seven years to pay for his education. However, he lost his savings during the Great Depression. Beginning in 1930, he worked at Vanderbilt University's Medical School as a laboratory assistant to Alfred Blalock, a white physician who became a pioneer in cardiac surgery. Blalock mentored Thomas and taught him to conduct experiments. In 1941, Blalock transferred to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and asked Thomas to transfer as well. While at Hopkins, they developed a procedure to save “blue babies” afflicted with congenital heart defects. According to Partners of the Heart, Thomas often “stood on a step stool” behind Blalock, guiding the surgeon through surgery. Though earning low wages, Thomas performed surgeries, designed instruments needed to perform surgery on “blue babies,” did innovative work on the defibrillator, and taught surgical techniques to surgeons. He also moonlighted as a bartender to support his family. " Thank you Mr. Thomas for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Vivien Thomas. :-)
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/thomas-vivien-1910-1985
"Even if you'd never seen surgery before, you could do it because Vivien made it look so simple," the renowned surgeon Denton Cooley told Washingtonian magazine in 1989. "There wasn't a false move, not a wasted motion, when he operated."
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