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Page 11
t the beginning of his last year of medical school, on October 24, 1929, the stock market crashed. The country spiraled rapidly downward into the Great Depression. Blacks were fired from occupations that had traditionally been reserved exclusively for them, and they were replaced by whites . The entire staff of black redcaps at Penn Station, the huge transportation hub in lower Manhattan, lost their jobs. My grandfather, who had been making good money, working as a waiter for the Pennsylvania Railroad for 23 years, was demoted. He was offered an entry level position, where he would be unable to receive the tips that had made up a considerable part of his income. He chose to quit, instead. At age 65, he was unable to find work. He had wanted to help my father set up his medical practice, but couldn't. In 1932, fresh out of Harlem Hospital, my father got his first job as a physician. He worked as a summer-camp doctor in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Dr. Pughsley visited the camp and met with him, but said nothing to him about following through on his promise to help, even though he knew his prote´ge´ was ready to begin his practice and needed help. His father was unable to help and Pughsley, apparently, was unwilling.
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