JOHN STEWART
ROCK (1826-1866)
Dentist, Doctor, Lawyer
John S. Rock
Harper's Weekly, February 25, 1865
Courtesy of: Library of Congress
John Stewart Rock became a dentist, because his
race barred him from becoming a doctor. He completed
his dental studies in New Jersey in 1849 and opened
a dental practice in Philadelphia in 1850. In 1851,
he won a silver medal for artificial teeth at the
Philadelphia Institute. While practicing dentistry,
he continued medical studies, earning his medical
degree from the American Medical College in 1852.
Moving to Boston in 1853, he was admitted to the Massachusetts
Medical Society in 1854. He practiced dentistry and
medicine in Boston until 1858 when he traveled to
France for a throat operation. On his return, he studied
law becoming the fourth African American to pass the
Massachusetts bar in 1861. He soon became widely acknowledged
as “a first class lawyer.” In 1865, with
the support of Senator Charles Sumner, Rock became
the first African American attorney admitted to practice
before the bar of the United States Supreme Court
and introduced to a U. S. Congressional session.
Rock was born free in Elsinboro Township in New Jersey.
Unlike many African Americans of his generation, he
was able to attend school until he was nineteen years
old. He then taught in the segregated schools of Salem,
New Jersey for four years before pursuing his distinguished
career in three professional fields. Throughout his
life Rock was an eloquent supporter of social justice
and community building. He helped to found the Grand
Masonic Lodge of New Jersey in 1848, joined the Prince
Hall Masons in Boston, and spoke at the dedication
of Philadelphia's new Grand Lodge Hall in 1857.
He was a delegate to the New Jersey African American
convention in 1849, and a Massachusetts delegate to
the National Convention for Colored Americans in 1855.
Rock avtively participated in Boston's abolitionist
endeavors. As a physician, he treated self-liberated
newcomers to the city. As an orator, he presented
keynote addresses at the 1858 and 1860 Crispus Attucks
Day celebrations and at Tremont Temple while Bostonians
awaited the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation
in 1863. He petitioned for the formation of black
Civil War regiments and recruited enlistees. Rock
died of tuberculosis in Boston in 1866 leaving behind
a young son.
|
