Alonzo Holly

Dr. Alonzo Potter Burgess Holly (1865–1943) was a Haitian doctor and diplomat. He served as Haiti's consul to the Bahamas in the 1890s. He later moved to Florida where he became President of the Florida State Medical Association.

Early life and education

Holly was born on 21 September 1865 in Port-au-Prince[1] Haiti.[2] He was the son of James Theodore Holly. The older Holly was the first black Episcopal bishop.[3] He had emigrated to Haiti from the United States. In Haiti, he was the founder of the Orthodox Apostolic Church.[2]

Alonzo Holly attended the Lycée Petion,[1][4] followed by Harrison College in Barbados[1][4][5] and the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Atherstone, England,[4][6] before attending the University of Cambridge[6] where he studied classics and religion.[2] He graduated in 1882 with a bachelor of science degree.[2] He then attended New York Homeopathic Medical College[7] from 1884-1888[5] where he became the school's first black graduate when he obtained a medical degree in 1888.[2]

Career

He returned to Haiti in 1892 where he ran a public health clinic in Gonaïves[8] and also founded a Mutual Relief Society.[3]

He was Haiti's consul to the Bahamas from 1900[9] to 1903. He remained in the Bahamas and practised for a time afterwards[2][6] including becoming the President of the Board of Trustees of the Boynton Normal and Industrial School.[4] He later moved to Florida and continued to practise.[2]

In 1914, he gave a talk to the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Miami on hygiene, which the Florida Metropolis called "so timely and replete with sane suggestions".[10] In 1942, Holly presented a paper at the 12th Homeopathic Pan American Congress a treatment for uterine cancer with which he had had a lot of success for more than a decade.[6] In 1944, his cancer treatment was the subject of a newspaper quiz question.[11]

Holly was President of the Dade County Medical Association,[10] President of the Florida State Medical Association[12] and a fellow of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association.

Holly also continued to advocate for his homeland. In 1886, he criticised statements by British diplomat Sir Spenser St John, who made claims about cannibalism in Haiti, by pointed out that the flaws in St John's statements.[13] Holly was also a correspondent of W. E. B. Debois, advocating for unity amongst Black Americans and Haitians.[13] Holly was also one of the founders of the Patriotic Union of Haiti (L’Union Patriotique d’Haïti), "an organisation modelled after the NAACP".[13]

Personal life and death

Holly died on 28 November 1943.[2] He was 78.

Awards and honours

In 1938, New York Medical College, presented him with a gold diploma.[2][4]

Works

References

  1. ^ a b c "Florida Doctor Honored By New York Medical College". The Pittsburgh Courier. June 11, 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 24 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Webb, Nicholas. "Library Research Guides: Holly, Alonzo Potter Burgess, M.D., 1865-1943: Home". New York Medical College. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  3. ^ a b Bryd, Brandon R. (2011). C.C. Spaulding & R.R. Wright - Companions on the Road Less Traveled? A Reconsideration of African American International Relations in the Early Twentieth Century (MA thesis). The College of William and Mary. pp. 35–36, 48. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Dr. Alonzo P. B. Holly: Career of Haytian Who Will Lecture at St. Philip's on October 12". The New York Age. 5 Oct 1905. p. 1. Retrieved 24 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "(The medical profession would be wanting)". The Miami Metropolis. 16 October 1915. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Miami Medic Finds Cancer Treatment". The Chicago Defender (National ed.). 16 May 1942. p. 9. Retrieved 23 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Colored News: Most Remarkable Cure of the Case of Paralysis by a Colored Physician". The Florida Metropolis. May 25, 1915. p. 13. Retrieved 23 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Wipfler, William Louis (1956). James Theodore Holly in Haiti. Columbia University Libraries. [New York : National Council]. p. 20.
  9. ^ "Consul appointments". The London Gazette. No. 27174. 16 March 1900. p. 1791. Foreign Office, March, 8, 1900. THE Queen has been pleased to approve of... Mr. Alonzo Potter Holly as Consul of Hayti for the Bahama Islands, to reside at Inagua...
  10. ^ a b "Working for Good Health: Dr. Holly of Miami Delivers Helpful Address to Ministers of that City". The Florida Metropolis. 21 September 1914. p. 11. Retrieved 23 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Brown, W. Douglas (1 July 1944). "What's the Answer". New Journal and Guide. Norfolk, Virginia. p. 7. Retrieved 23 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Dr. Alonzo P. Holly is Visiting Harlem". The New York Age. Retrieved 21 January 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c Byrd, Brandon R. (2019). The Black Republic: African Americans and the Fate of Haiti. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 100, 116, 221, 235, 243. ISBN 9780812251708. Retrieved 2026-01-23 – via ProQuest Ebook Central.
  14. ^ Mather, Frank Lincoln (1915). Who's who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent ; Vol. 1. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-598-61021-8. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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