School 19 in Rochester is named for Dr. Charles T. Lunsford, the first Black doctor to establish a practice in the city.
His lofty accomplishments beyond that — and there are many — were not as well known to the students at the school that bears his name, Principal Moniek Silas-Lee said in a 2020 Democrat and Chronicle story.
“They do know he was the first African American doctor, and they should be able to ID him in a picture, but that’s about it,” said Silas-Lee, who was aiming to change that.
At the Seward Street school, presentations were held twice monthly to discuss Lunsford, said Silas-Lee, adding that her father was a patient.
Dr. Charles Lunsford considered the ‘Martin Luther King of Rochester.’
Lunsford set up shop on Clarissa Street in 1921 and practiced medicine for more than half a century. Along the way, he was a tireless advocate for all kinds of civil rights issues, so much so that when he died, he was referred to as the “Martin Luther King of Rochester.”
Lunsford fought successfully to enroll black students at the University of Rochester medical school. He helped to integrate the workforce of companies such as Eastman Kodak Co. and the guestrooms of the local YMCA. During World War II, Lunsford helped overturn an American Red Cross policy of not accepting the blood of black donors.