Dr. James Earle Stuart, an African-American physician, was born in York, Pennsylvania on January 24, 1894. He attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and graduated from that school in 1916, becoming a registered pharmacist. In 1918, Dr. Stuart's World War I military service was as a member of the Student's Army Training Corps (SATC). Afterwards, he continued his education at Temple University, studying Pre-Medicine, and received his doctoral degree in Medicine from The Howard University College of Medicine in 1925. In 1932, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University. Later, he would continue his military service in the New York National Guard; with the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Stuart served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1943 as a member of the Medical Corps of the 369th Infantry Regiment, in which he attained the rank of captain. Dr. Stuart, a chest specialist, located his private practice at 522 East Second Street, in Plainfield, New Jersey. Additionally, he was professionally affiliated with Muhlenberg Hospital, Plainfield, New Jersey, and was the Director of the Clinic for Tuberculosis at the John E. Runnells Hospital in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He also was a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the New Jersey Medical Society. Dr. Stuart was married to Alice Jackson (b. 1913), who gained notoriety in 1935 for challenging the University of Virginia's rejection of her graduate school application on the basis of her race. Her efforts, with Thurgood Marshall (later a U.S. Supreme Court Justice) as one of her attorneys, resulted in the State of Virginia enacting legislation requiring the state to provide financial support for African-American students to attend college out-of-state. With this financial support, she was able to attend Columbia University, graduating in 1937. She had a son, Julian T. Houston, Jr., from a previous marriage. Alice Jackson Stuart died in June, 2001. Dr. Stuart went on to become Chairman, and later Chairman Emeritus, of the Housing Authority of Plainfield, New Jersey. He died in December, 1980.
From the description of Dr. James Earle Stuart Papers, 1928-1931. (New Jersey Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 60388161
