Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 06/Rufus Samuel Vass

Overview
Rufus Samuel Vass was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 23, 1887. He became a doctor before being ranked into World War I, and continued his profession in the field of medicine upon returning to North Carolina after the war. Vass was interviewed for The Federal Writer’s Project in July of 1939.

Biography
Rufus Samuel Vass was born in Raleigh North Carolina on May 23, 1887. His parents were Samuel Nathaniel and Eliza Haywood Vass. Rufus Samuel Vass grew up in a household of four with both of his parents and one sister.

Schooling
Vass began his early educational journey by attending many public schools in Raleigh, North Carolina. He then proceeded to college at Shaw University, a historically black university, and earned his A.B. degree. Choosing to pursue his interest in the medical field, Vass remained at Shaw University for another four years by attending Leonard Medical School at Shaw. After earning his M.D. degree from the medical school in 1912, Dr. Rufus practiced medicine in Smithfield, and then returned to Raleigh to continue his practice.

Time in War
In 1917, Rufus Samuel Vass joined the United States Army during World War I. He began his journey in Fort Des Moines, Iowa while training there. Within the time span of a couple months, Vass was assigned as First Lieutenant of the Medical Corps and shortly became Captain. He also spent time in France to serve as a part of the 368th Hospital Unit.

Life After War
In 1919, Vass returned to North Carolina from the horrific scene of the war to begin his private practice in medicine. The year after, he met his wife Luatle Jeffries. The strong relationship between the couple aided Vass’ career to be successful and productive while being ran from their home. Carrying out his practice among many patients, Jeffries served as his secretary and nurse. With two options available, Vass and his wife would either have patients visit them at their house for an appointment or if too sick to travel, Vass and Jeffries would go to the house of the patient.

Career Accomplishments
Throughout the career of Dr. Vass, he helped to serve the African American community in North Carolina that did not have many options available to them due to the racial discrimination in the South. Actively taking part in the National Medical Association–Raleigh chapter–he continued to be involved in many other organizations. Vass was the medical director of the Eagle Insurance Co. and also held a position in the staff at St. Agnes hospital. In the summer of 1939, Dr. Vass being one to contribute his knowledge for the well-being of others, was one of the doctors to give an exam to a group of 350 African American girls. In addition, Vass was recognized for his humanitarian work at the 60th annual convention of the National Medical Association for the accomplishment of having practiced medicine as a general practitioner for over forty years.

Racial Wage Gap
After the era of the Civil War and the Emancipation in 1865, African Americans were freed from slavery under the white man’s rule in America. The southern states still upheld a force of racial discrimination and inequality in many ways, one being within the workforce. Blacks were payed less than whites even when a black person worked the same job as a white person. In the Washington Post article, a black mathematician and sociologist stated, “The Negro is up against the white man’s standard, without the white man’s opportunity,” when describing how black men strive to be considered equally. This unequal treatment in terms of payment resulted in the Great Migration, where African Americans who lived in the South fled to the North in hopes of finding more industrialized jobs with higher wages and escaping the implementation of unjust southern regulations through Jim Crow laws. The north eventually found different ways to keep the African American community from thriving, but the earnings of blacks remained lower than that of the white man throughout the entirety of the twentieth century.

Influenza Pandemic
In 1918, during World War I, a global pandemic washed over the world. As the Allied Powers–which included the troops of the United States–were advancing towards victory over the Central Powers–the opposing force–a sickness that seemed like the common cold at first started to affect many people. Once established as the influenza, it continued to spread beyond Europe where the war was taking place at the time. Killing around 675,000 Americans, the illness took a toll on the lives of people from twenty to forty years old. According to Billings, the virus is recognized as the most “devastating epidemic in recorded world history.” As a result of the influenza pandemic of 1918, it killed between twenty and forty million people worldwide.

As with many illnesses, the health of African Americans is disproportionately affected at a higher rate due to low economic status of blacks and also insufficient access to quality healthcare. Contrary to the previous statement, the black community reported a lower number of deaths from the 1918 influenza compared to the number of deaths of the whites. Oakland and Mamelund referred to the time period of illness as “The only year in the 20th century when black people in the USA had lower influenza mortality than white people was 1918.” The reason being is that the African American community had already been exposed to the virus earlier that year before the outbreak. Therefore, the many blacks–especially in the South–were less likely to catch the virus when it globally hit.