James Franklin Sistrunk was a world renowned African American doctor who influenced Florida’s history in a big way. He stands today as the forbearer of Black medicine and the foot soldier in the battle for racial equality during the early days of the civil rights movement. James Sistrunk was born in Midway, Florida near Tallahassee in 1891, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Berry Sistrunk. According to ‘Doc’ Sistrunk 1891-1966, “He graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1919. He later served in World War I, in the Army, before relocating to Dunnellon, Florida to practice medicine.” In this time period, African Americans were segregated from whites and were considered inferior to them. In their everyday lives they were