August 1, 1872 – Birth of Solomon Carter Fuller, Black Pioneer in Alzheimer Research

Solomon Carter Fuller was born on this day in history in Monrovia, Liberia. His paternal grandparents, former slaves, emigrated to Liberia in 1852. His maternal grandparents were medical missionaries in Liberia and were thought to have influenced Fuller’s interest in medicine. Fuller came to the US at age 17 to attend Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and then got a medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1897. 

Dr Fuller went on to complete a 2-year internship at Westborough State Hospital, Massachusetts.

In 1904, he was one of five foreign laboratory research assistants selected by Alois Alzheimer to work at the newly created Royal Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Munich. 

Photograph showing seated, left to right, Alzheimer and Fuller, via The Lancet

Dr Fuller was the first to translate much of Alzheimer’s pivotal work into English, and published what is now recognized to be the first comprehensive review of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Fuller returned to Westborough Hospital in 1905, and continued his work in neuropathology.

In 1919, at age 47, Dr. Fuller resigned from Westborough Hospital to devote his time to medical education at Boston University. He became associate professor of neuropathology that year and 2 years later associate professor of neurology. Despite holding these positions and being the only African American on the faculty at the time, Fuller suffered racial discrimination, receiving less pay than his fellow white professors and not even formally acknowledged on the university’s payroll. (See Hamzah Mohammed, “Recognizing African-American Contributions to Neurology: The Role of Solomon Carter Fuller (1872–1953) in Alzheimer’s Disease Research,” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Vol 17, Issue 2, Feb 2021, online here.) Moreover, from 1928 to 1933, he acted as chair of the Department of Neurology yet was not actually awarded the title. He retired as a professor at age 61 in 1933.

Solomon Carter Fuller, c. 1910

He continued to practice neurology and psychiatry in Massachusetts and for a period in Pennsylvania. He began to suffer increasingly from diabetes, such that by 1944 he had lost his eyesight completely. At age 81 in 1953, Dr Fuller died of diabetes and gastrointestinal malignancy.

In 1974, the Black Psychiatrists of America created the Solomon Carter Fuller Program for young black aspiring psychiatrists to complete their residency. The Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center in Boston is also named after Dr. Fuller.