THE DR. MILTON D. QUIGLESS, SR. STORY
What does it take to rise above injustice and build something that lasts?
Long before hashtags and headlines, Dr. Milton D. Quigless, Sr. faced a world determined to keep him out. A fifth-grade dropout from Jim Crow Mississippi, he dreamed of becoming a doctor at a time when Black students were barred, ignored, and underestimated. Yet he refused to give up.
With grit, faith, and unshakable purpose, Dr. Quigless worked as a porter to fund his education, became a licensed physician, and, when white hospitals closed their doors, built his own. His clinic in Tarboro, North Carolina became a refuge for thousands denied care and dignity elsewhere.
In an age when racial injustice and inequality still make daily headlines, his story feels powerfully familiar and urgently needed.
This isn’t just a memoir of medicine. It’s a story of hope over hate, courage over fear, and purpose over prejudice, a reminder that ordinary people can rewrite history through compassion and conviction.
If you believe one life can make a difference, this story will stay with you long after the last page.
You can find The Dr. Milton D. Quigless Senior Story on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers.
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION
- Quigley's remarkable journey: From leaving school in the fifth grade in tiny Port Gibson, Mississippi to acing his medical boards at Meharry, becoming a physician who served the segregated South for decades.
- Building his own hospital: Denied privileges at white hospitals, Dr. Quigley founded the Quigless Clinic, a 25-bed facility where he could perform surgeries, train nursing and support staff, and provide real care to the Black community in Tarboro, North Carolina.
- The Walter Plummer Jr. story: Quigley's groundbreaking observation that hemophilia was rare in women led him to treat a young boy with female hormones, stopping his bleeding. Plummer went on to become a beloved music teacher and played piano at Dr. Quigley's funeral.
- A family legacy of healing and service: Carol's brother became a surgeon, Carol pursued holistic health as a massage therapist, aromatherapist, and Reiki master, and their mother ran the business side of the clinic. Even Carol's sister, despite debilitating arthritis, started an arts program and became a published poet.
- Preserving culture through storytelling: Carol revised her father's sprawling, dictated manuscript into a polished second edition because his story deserved better treatment, and because preserving these narratives of Black physicians who overcame impossible barriers is essential to cultural survival.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol Quigless was inspired by her father to enter the healing arts. She however took a different approach and is a Board Certified Massage Therapist specializing in lymphatic drainage, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist and a Reiki Master-Teacher. Her father’s clinic-hospital was the first medical facility built specifically to treat the underserved African American population in the face of Jim Crow. Access to quality medical treatment including surgery was practically non existent during that time and it was nothing short of a miracle that he got medical training and was able to provide a hospital for the Black community. Carol spent a lot of time at the clinic growing up and got firsthand view of her Dad’s practice and when old enough, worked at the clinic. In fact, the clinic was a family affair – her mother, sister and brother all worked at the clinic at one time or another.
Carol’s older sister, Helen, was first to insist that her father write his story before he passed away in 1997 at the age of 94. After Helen passed away in 2004, Carol eventually picked up the cause of having the first edition published and then revised it for republication in 2025. This was indeed an intense labor of love, reliving his story telling about growing up poor in rural Mississippi with a burning desire to become a doctor, overcoming unimaginable obstacles. After the passing of her mother in 2005, Carol carried on the pioneering spirit of her father and opened up a holistic clinic in her Dad’s medical building, an endeavor well before its time in eastern North Carolina. Prior to those days in North Carolina, Carol was a private chef to some of the African American luminaries of Los Angeles.
Carol now lives in Charlottesville, VA where she continues her practice and develops formulas for her company, Flourish Essential Oils.
LEARN MORE AT: www.flourishwellnessoils.com
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