February 17, 2016 Former Health and Human Services Secretary to Discuss and Sign His New Book

The remarkable life of Louis W. Sullivan, who spent his childhood in Jim Crow southern Georgia in the 1930s, became a physician, went on to found Morehouse School of Medicine and was appointed secretary of Health and Human Services, is recounted in his new book, “Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine” (University of Georgia Press, 2014).

Sullivan will discuss and sign his book, co-authored with David Chanoff, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at noon in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. This Books & Beyond event is presented by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. It is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

At the age of 5, Sullivan told his mother that he wanted to be a doctor. Schools in Blakely, Georgia, were segregated at the time, so his parents sent him to Savannah and later to Atlanta for his education. After graduating from Morehouse College, he attended medical school at Boston University, where he was the sole African American in his class. Several years later, the dean at Morehouse asked him to found a medical school there. During that time, Sullivan developed a relationship with George H.W.p Bush, who appointed him Health and Human Services secretary.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions.

The Library’s Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated state centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading-promotion partners and through the Young Readers Center and the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more information, visit read.gov.