This home at 205 DeKalb Avenue dates back to the 1860s and is most notable for being the home of Dr. Susan McKinney-Stewart, the first Black woman to graduate from medical school in the state of New York. Dr. McKinney-Stewart was born to a large family in Weeksville, Brooklyn. Her father was a merchant and hog farmer and made a decent living. Her siblings were trailblazers in their own right; her sister was the first Black woman to become a principal in New York. She enrolled in the New York College for Women in 1867. She paid her way through school by teaching in both New York and Washington, D.C. Her enrollment didn’t attract as much attention as you might think due to the fact that her mentor was able to dissuade the press from covering her. Dr. McKinney-Stewart graduated at the top of her class. She pursued a career in homeopathy as it was more accepting toward women and people of color. She began a clinic in Brooklyn and focused primarily on the treatment of children. She became so well known that she began to treat both Black and white patients. She lived in this home with her sister in the 1890s.

In addition to her work in medicine, she worked towards civil rights. She was a member of the Women’s Loyal Union and the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement. These organizations pushed for equal rights for women, for African Americans as well as pushing for women’s suffrage. Dr. McKinney-Smith passed away suddenly in 1918 while working at Wilberforce University in Ohio. She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Her home in Fort Greene was landmarked as part of the Fort Greene Historic District on September 26th, 1976.