“OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” : JOHN STEWART ROCK

             Not too long ago I read a quote that said,”Pass The Truth To The Next Generation ; We Must Teach Them Early What We Learn Late!” The quote was talking about teaching our Black children the truth about things that happened before they were born. However, there’s a funny thing about the “TRUTH.” You see, you can have three different people witness an incident, and still  get three different scenarios about what actually happened. A good example is the incident that occurred last year at a Carroll High School football game. The Carroll football coaches gave their version of the Truth, the Sheriff gave his version of the Truth, and a bystander even video-recorded the incident. By Sadly, the Truth in many cases is that the Truth simply gets lost in the police report that’s submitted to the police department and the court. Nevertheless, let’s turn our attention to this week’s Black Pioneer, John Stewart Rock.       John was born on  October 13, 1825 in Salem, New Jersey to free negroes, John and Maria (Willett) Rock. John did so well in school that by the age of 19, he had qualified to become a school teacher. In 1844, he began teaching at a one-room school in Salem. After four or five years of teaching, and studying medicine on the side,John decided to try his hand at dentistry. Back then, there was a thing called an “Apprenticeship.” John chose to take an apprenticeship with a White  doctor by the name of Dr. Harbert. Next, he applied to attend medical school. In 1852, John graduated from American Medical College in Philadelphia!  He became one of the first Negroes in America to gain a medical degree. Before the age of 28, he had 

 become a successful teacher, dentist, and a noted physician.Wow,              quite an accomplishment for a Negro in that period of history! Later on, John became an abolitionists and civil rights leader. Also, on September 14, 1861, T. K. Lothrop, a White lawyer, persuaded a local Judge to allow John the opportunity to take the law examination. John passed the exam with flying colors and gained admittance to the Massachusetts Bar.  He was thrilled that he had finally achieved one of  the last items on his bucket list!                One of the highest honors he ever received, occurred on February 1, 1865, the day after the approval of the 13th Amendment. A White man named Charles Sumner introduced a motion that made John Stewart Rock the first Negro attorney to be admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court!Furthermore, he became the first Negro to be received on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Sadly,on December 3, 1866, John S. Rock died from tuberculosis. He was only 41 years old.