Background
Fraser was the daughter of Jermain Wesley Loguen, a noted abolitionist who had escaped slavery. As her father"s house in Syracuse, New York became an important stopping point on the underground railroad, eventually giving shelter to approximately 1,500 escaped slaves as they traveled to safety in Canada, Sarah gained experience from a young age in helping to treat the injuries and illnesses they had suffered as a result of their slavery or escape.
Career
She decided to become a physician after seeing a young boy pinned beneath a wagon, vowing "I will never, never see a human being in need of aid again and not be able to help." Her 1873 enrollment in medical school was celebrated by a local Syracuse newspaper which wrote "This is women's rights in the right direction, and we cordially wish the estimable young lady every success in the pursuit of the profession of her choice."
In 1876, she became the first woman to gain an Doctor of Medicine from Syracuse University School of Medicine and is believed to be only the fourth African-American woman to become a licensed physician in the United States, the second in New York, and the first to graduate from a coeducational medical school. She went on to intern in pediatrics and obstetrics in Philadelphia and Boston before opening her own practice in Washington, District of Columbia. While she was in Washington, she met, and then in 1882 married, Doctor Charles Fraser. She moved to his home in the Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic where she became the country"s first female doctor and, as her husband"s income was sufficient for the family, she was able to offer free treatment to the poor.
When Sarah Fraser died in 1933, the Dominican Republic declared a nine-day period of national mourning with flags flown at half-mast.
A small park in Syracuse honors the Loguen family while the Child Care Center at Upstate Medical University is named in Sarah’s honor.