David Kearny McDonogh (August 10, 1821 – January 15, 1893) was an American ophthalmologist, one of the first slaves to receive a college degree, and the first African-American eye specialist.
John McDonogh, a supporter of the American Colonization Society, identified David and a fellow slave, Washington, as having the potential for "divine" leadership and hoped they would serve as missionaries in Liberia.
[1] Through his Presbyterian connections, in 1838 John McDonogh enrolled both David and Washington at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and appointed Senator Walter Lowrie as their guardian.
[1] The two had a falling out as David continued to push for his staying in America to earn a medical degree, while John attempted to pressure him into keeping by his original agreement to travel to Liberia as a missionary.
[8] In 2016, a scholarship in McDonogh's name for Ophthalmology/Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) was dedicated by National Medical Fellowships, an organization whose mission is to increase the number of underrepresented physicians and health care professionals.