The Memoir of Joseph Pierce Braud, MD: His Life Journey on the Gravel Road and Beyond

About the Book

This memoir highlights a compelling story of tragedy and triumph during the Jim Crow and separate but equal era in the Deep South.

The book traces the evolution of Joseph Pierce Braud, from his humble birthplace in A-Bend in Ascension Parish to his graduation from Howard University Medical School in 1958 and thereafter.

Braud overcame the death of his father and helped support the family by scrapping rice and potatoes and shining shoes on Carrollton Street in New Orleans. During the 1930s and 1940s, his family received only $18 per month for seven siblings.

Before earning his medical degree from Howard University Medical School in 1958, Braud helped his siblings obtain a college education. Subsequently, he opened his medical practice in New Orleans and held a staff position at Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University.

From Brookstown with its 300 residents, Dr. Braud paved the way for six members of his Braud Family Group to become Medical Doctors, including (14) BS degrees, (4) Masters Degrees, (1) Juris Doctorate, (1) Doctor of Philosophy, and (1) nurse.

Find out how Braud beat the odds to earn his education and pave the way for other Blacks to enter the medical field.

About the Author

Joseph Pierce Braud, MD, grew up in Brookstown, Louisiana, and earned his medical degree from Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C. in 1958. He practiced medicine for more than fifty years in New Orleans and was head of the anesthesiology department at Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University for twenty-one years. He was the first African American physician accepted in the segregated Charity Hospital Anesthesiology Residency Program, opening the door for minority interns and residents to receive medical training there and elsewhere.