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Charles DeWitt Watts

1917 births2004 deaths20th-century African-American people20th-century surgeons21st-century African-American people
African-American physiciansAmerican surgeonsHoward University College of Medicine alumniMembers of the National Academy of MedicineMorehouse College alumniPeople from AtlantaPeople from Durham, North CarolinaPhysicians from North CarolinaUse American English from December 2014

Charles DeWitt Watts (September 21, 1917 – July 12, 2004) was an African-American surgeon and activist for the poor. Watts was the first surgeon of African-American ancestry in North Carolina. Earning his medical degree in 1943 from Howard University College, he was the first African-American board-certified surgeon to serve in North Carolina. After surgical training at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in 1949, he moved to Durham, North Carolina, in 1950 and established a clinic to provide access to medical services for the poor. Breaking the social customs of racial obstacles, he advocated for certification of African-American medical students. He also became a member of many professional colleges including the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine and the American College of Surgeons. He served as chief of surgery at Durham's Lincoln Hospital and was later one of the key figures in converting it to the Lincoln Community Health Center, a low-priced clinic for the poor.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Charles DeWitt Watts (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Charles DeWitt Watts
East Cornwallis Road, Durham

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N 35.959 ° E -78.913 °
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East Cornwallis Road 3300
27707 Durham
North Carolina, United States
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Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina

Durham ( DURR-əm) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 census, Durham is the 4th-most populous city in North Carolina, and the 71st-most populous city in the United States. The city is located in the east-central part of the Piedmont region along the Eno River. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 649,903 at the 2020 census. The Office of Management and Budget also includes Durham as a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the Research Triangle, which had a population of 2,043,867 at the 2020 census.A railway depot was established in 1849 on land donated by Bartlett S. Durham, the namesake of the city. Following the American Civil War, the community of Durham Station expanded rapidly, in part due to the tobacco industry. The town was incorporated by act of the North Carolina General Assembly, in April 1869. The establishment of Durham County was ratified by the General Assembly 12 years later, in 1881. It became known as the founding place and headquarters of the American Tobacco Company. Textile and electric power industries also played an important role. While these industries have declined, Durham underwent revitalization and population growth to become an educational, medical, and research center.Durham is home to several recognized institutions of higher education, most notably Duke University and North Carolina Central University. Durham is also a national leader in health-related activities, which are focused on the Duke University Hospital and many private companies. Duke and its Duke University Health System are the largest employers in the city. North Carolina Central University is a historically black university that is part of the University of North Carolina system. Together, the two universities make Durham one of the vertices of the Research Triangle area; central to this is the Research Triangle Park south of Durham, which encompasses an area of 11 square miles and is devoted to research facilities. On the Duke University campus are the neo-Gothic Duke Chapel and the Nasher Museum of Art. Other notable sites in the city include the Museum of Life and Science, Durham Performing Arts Center, Carolina Theatre, and Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory. Bennett Place commemorates the location where Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to William T. Sherman in the American Civil War. The city is served, along with Raleigh, by Raleigh–Durham International Airport.