early 18th century
Onesimus
West AfricaUnited StatesMedicine & Public Health
Background
An enslaved West African man in colonial Boston.
Contribution
Described the African practice of inoculation against smallpox to Cotton Mather, informing Boston's pioneering 1721 inoculation campaign during an epidemic.
Popular credit vs. the record
Onesimus's role was long omitted from histories that credited only European physicians.
Associated inventions
Collaborators & contemporaries
Sources & further reading
Each citation names the publisher and the exact reference title.
- U.S. National Library of Medicine — history of medicineU.S. National Library of Medicine (NIH) · Government / archive
Direct source link pending editorial verification.