Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character 

This biographical dictionary by Dr. Lawson Andrew Scruggs, one of the first licensed Black doctors in North Carolina, celebrated the social, political, and professional achievements of African American women. He dedicated the publication first and foremost to “the Afro-American Mothers and Daughters” and “the Noble Women of the Race” of great “character” and “virtue.” Featuring contributions from other prominent Black figures of the time, including T. Thomas Fortune, William Still, and Ida B. Wells, this volume offered a collective portrait that refuted negative portrayals of African Americans in media and literature. Today, it also stands as an expression of “racial uplift” in late 19th-century America, whereby African American elites led social progress and the civil rights movement.