Harvey Nathaniel Middleton

(Feb. 15, 1895-Mar. 18, 1978). Born in Denmark, South Carolina, Middleton graduated from Benedict College in 1919. After a brief service in the Army during World War I (1918-1919), he attended the School of Medicine at Boston University (1920-1922) and graduated from Meharry Medical College with an M.D. (1926). A cardiologist, Middleton completed postgraduate work in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease at Harvard Medical School, Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, University of Michigan, University of London, and the Indiana University Medical School.

In 1928, after a brief practice in Springfield, Tennessee, Middleton joined the staff of St. Joseph Hospital in Anderson, Indiana. He moved to Indianapolis in 1935, where he unsuccessfully applied to become the only Black doctor on the staff of City Hospital. He was allowed to volunteer in the outpatient clinic at the facility. He purchased a portable cardiette EKG machine and went into private practice making electrocardiograms.

The hospital subsequently relented in their discrimination, and Middleton received a staff appointment at City Hospital in 1942. He later served on the staff of St. Vincent, Methodist, Community, and Winona Memorial hospitals.

The author of several scientific papers and journal articles on cardiology, Middleton was affiliated with numerous professional medical organizations. As a civic leader in Indianapolis, Middleton was active with the YMCA, serving on the metropolitan board for three years, chairing several committees of the Senate Avenue YMCA, and working as a delegate at the International YMCA conference in Paris in 1955.

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