Item 013 - Letter to Harvey Cushing, May 4, 1926

Charles Lightfoot Roman was born on May 19, 1889, in Port Elgin, Ontario.

He was a Canadian surgeon, author, lecturer and researcher. He grew up and attended elementary and secondary school in Bay City, Michigan. He graduated from Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee (B.Sc., 1910), and in 1912, he began to attend McGill University's Medical School. In 1915, he put his studies on hold to enlist with the Canadian General Hospital No. 3, a field hospital near the front lines in France during World War I. There he met his future wife, nursing sister Jessie Sedgewick. He was the only known Black person to have served with the Canadian General Hospital. In 1917, he returned to Montreal to finish his studies, and in 1919, he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine, as well as a Master of Surgery, becoming one of the first Black Canadian graduates from McGill's Faculty of Medicine. Roman began to work at the Montreal General Hospital and later at Montreal Cottons Limited, becoming one of the first industrial medicine doctors in Quebec, specializing in workplace accidents. His research included health and safety for cotton mill workers. His research was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and influenced health and safety protocols in factories and mills. In 1953, Roman was honoured as a Fellow of the Industrial Medical Association in Los Angeles. He travelled across North America, lecturing about industrial medicine. In 1923, Roman was initiated into the Valleyfield Lodge, No. 75 of the Freemasonry and was elected Worshipful Master in 1929. In 1934, he became District Deputy Grand Master for Montreal District No. 3. His service over several years earned him the distinction of Honorary Member of several lodges in Québec. He was also a frequent speaker at the Masonic Study Club of Montréal.

In 1920, he married Jessie Middleton Sedgewick (1890-1958). He died on June 8, 1961, in Valleyfield, Quebec.