I created a retail range a few years back with the University of Glasgow, it focused on some famous historical alumni of the university; James Watt, Lord Kelvin and Adam Smith.

Three white guys. At the time I didn’t think about that – I did notice there were no women included in the range, but clearly they selected these very well known personalities, partly because so much is known about them.

Mostly they’re inventors and had so many connections with other renowned individuals that there is a wealth of information on them. Research – done by little old me – was relatively easy.

Now they’re employing me to add James McCune Smith to the range, the first African American ever to gain a medical degree – and he got it in Glasgow. His life makes for a great story and I’ve been researching him using some university resources and, you know, the internet. Compared with the other three there is a dearth of information on McCune Smith. Sure, some historical documents must be in the United States, but last time I checked the internet, that didn’t matter so much. McCune Smith was born long after Adam Smith died, was 6 years old when James Watt died and although he could be seen as a brief contemporary of Kelvin, they were continents apart. Records were surely better kept and preserved the later we go in history. Where is all the information on McCune Smith? It’s been so frustrating to come up against knowledge brick walls and a complete lack of any helpful images. I started to resent the project because I couldn’t easily find what I needed. I couldn’t figure it out…

WAIT. It’s racism. McCune Smith was black, so there just wasn’t the same interest in his life either at the time or even now.

The university have taken strides to address this with a giant new learning hub named in his honour (the reason I even have this job in the first place) but the fact remains that my work is cut out for me. I have already spent double the time on this one person’s illustration than on the other three combined. Sure, partly my practice has moved on over the years and I am ensuring the quality is as high as I can make it, but really, I am stumbling around lack of facts, pictures, descriptions, there isn’t even a comprehensive list of all his children’s names. His wife is essentially a name and little else. He ran a successful and well-regarded pharmacy – treating white and black patients - in New York for twenty odd years in a time of photography and not one single photo appears to exist.

He’s described in various articles as a ‘hero lost to history’ or an ‘underappreciated literary light’ and his omission described as ‘historical amnesia’. But the things he achieved are astounding. Excruciatingly, his children that survived to adulthood passed as white, so to escape racism, segregation and lack of support in a white world they cut ties with their father’s legacy and essentially orphaned themselves. If his own family couldn’t accept their own history then no wonder he and his amazing contributions are mostly forgotten.

I have learned my lesson. But I am sure I will learn it a thousand times over before I’m done making mistakes. I must try to look into the reasons why something may be happening and critique the information itself - or lack of it.

The fact I didn’t instantly recognise the inherent racism during my research now feels so short sighted.

Before I jump all over other people for their prejudices, I have to first examine my own – and question why and how they got there. I am continuing my journey into James McCune Smith’s life – it is now fast becoming a voyage of discovery for its own sake, not just to put pens on the desk. Illustration; turns out it’s a lot more than just drawing pictures.