to Chicago where he started employ- ment as a school health officer and school tuberculosis physician. From 1915-1920 he served as secretary of the Railway Men’s Association, a railroad union that was the precursor to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. While he served in this role, member- ship rose from 250 to 10,000. Bousfield relinquished his affiliation with the railroad and became one of the original incorporators of the Liberty Life Insurance Company, founded June 3, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first Northern Black-owned insurance company and Bousfield became the company’s medical director and later served as vice-president, president and member of the board of directors. In 1929, he facilitated the merger of the company with two other insurance companies which came to be known as the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, and became the third larg- est Black insurance firm in the United States. Upon the death of Liberty Life Insurance Company Founder Frank L. Gillespie (Chicago (IL) Alumni ‘21), Bousfield was elected president. He also served as medical director and chairman of its executive committee. Bousfield’s tenure with Supreme Liberty Life was from 1925-1929. From 1933-1934, he was the president of the National Medical Association, an organization comprised of Black physi- cians throughout the country. This role placed him in a unique position to be a spokesperson for Blacks in medicine. He became the first Black to serve as a Keynote Speaker at the American Public Health Association. His speech was published in the American Journal of Public Health, in which he directly addressed racist actions of white physi- cians by stating that health officials “… so complacently review, year after year, the unfavorable vital statistical reports of one-tenth of the population and make no special effort to correct them.”
Due to his bold and unprecedented statements to address how Black’s health care was being neglected, health professionals were obliged to alter their practices. During 1934-1942, he was the director of Negro Health for the Julius Rosen- wald Fund and he helped to finance the education of numerous Black physicians and nurses and created medical train- ing opportunities for Blacks. Bousfield also improved health care and medical facilities for underserved Blacks in the South. Due in large part to his efforts, the transition of Blacks to enter the health profession became less of an impediment. During this time, he was influential in establishing an infantile paralysis unit at the Tuskegee Institute and Provident Hospital. In 1939, he was appointed the first Black member of the Chicago Board of Education. His Alma Mater, the University of Kansas bestowed the Distinguished Service Citation upon him in 1941. Three years later, during World War II, Bousfield was selected to command the U.S. Army’s all-Black Station Hospital, in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He organ- ized, staffed and directed the Station Hospital. The hospital served 14,000 Black soldiers training for combat in World War II. Bousfield earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and retired in 1945 as the Medical Corps first Black promoted to the rank of colonel and he subsequently returned to Chicago. He was awarded the Legion of Merit Deco- ration in 1945. The Chicago Public Schools named an elementary school in honor of Bousfield, located at 46th & Drexel. It was later converted into an- other school and razed some years later. Unfortunately, due to incomplete frater- nity records, it is unclear exactly when Bousfield became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. Research indicates that he was in Chicago as early as 1914 and he was present at the 12th Grand Chapter Meeting in 1922. Since Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter was chartered in 1919,
Busfield receives the Legion of Merit.
it’s reasonable to assume that he was initiated into the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter sometime between 1919 and 1922. Two years before his death, Bous- field helped to organize the Provident Medical Association; an organization comprised of prominent Black doctors dedicated to supporting and funding a wide array of medical specialists. Throughout his adult life, Bousfield actively advocated for equality and op- portunities for Blacks in the health care, insurance and education industries. He was a member of several social and civic organizations including Sigma Pi Phi (the Boulé), Knights of Pythias, Prince Hall Masons, and Odd Fellows Lodge. Although he was not a member of the NAACP, Bousfield was a key leader for the Urban League. He remained close to the white power structure and used his influences to advocate for issues of importance. He entered the Chapter Invisible on February 16, 1948. He was bestowed a post-humous Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter Life Membership in January 1949.
Publishing achievement for 105 years
THE JOURNAL SPRING ISSUE | 75
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