Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Get behind the scenes and early access at patreon.com/NYTN (patreon.com/NYTN)
In 1905, a physician stood at a podium in Memphis and told a room full of his colleagues what the future of Black America would look like. He made predictions and boy was he confident. He called it the Negro's destiny. I'd like to argue that he got it all wrong....
This episode breaks down H.L. Sutherland's 1905 presidential address to the Tri-State Medical Association. 1)What he said 2)who he said it to and 3) what it reveals about the way America was narrating Black futures at the height of Jim Crow. Primary sources are so important-- the archive doesn't lie, but it does require us to read it carefully.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
•
H.L. Sutherland — The Destiny of the American Negro, President's Address, Annual Meeting, Tri-State Medical Association of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, Memphis, November 21–23, 1905. Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection, Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division. loc.gov/item/91898592
Get behind the scenes and early access at patreon.com/NYTN (patreon.com/NYTN)
In 1905, a physician stood at a podium in Memphis and told a room full of his colleagues what the future of Black America would look like. He made predictions and boy was he confident. He called it the Negro's destiny. I'd like to argue that he got it all wrong....
This episode breaks down H.L. Sutherland's 1905 presidential address to the Tri-State Medical Association. 1)What he said 2)who he said it to and 3) what it reveals about the way America was narrating Black futures at the height of Jim Crow. Primary sources are so important-- the archive doesn't lie, but it does require us to read it carefully.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
•
H.L. Sutherland — The Destiny of the American Negro, President's Address, Annual Meeting, Tri-State Medical Association of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, Memphis, November 21–23, 1905. Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection, Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division. loc.gov/item/91898592
