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national figure, standing out prominently as the most advanced representative of ability of the Negro to "do things" and to stop for no obstacle or hindrance. He is the pioneer in Negro hospital and infirmary work, and it is due largely to his energy and professional skill that Mercy Hospital, now a department of the Meharry Medical College, enjoys the reputation of being the best institution of its kind in the whole south. The fame of Mercy hospital is but a reflection of his own fame as a physician and surgeon, and it is no idle statement to say that Dr. Boyd is one of the leaders among the Negro physicians and surgeons of the country. It is not in medicine alone, however that Dr. Boyd has succeeded. He is perhaps, among the largest holders of real estate in the city and has a rating not to be despised among men of any race. City and country property is numbered among his holdings, and he is popular among the Negro people of the city to a degree not usually attained by successful men. Success in his individual business caused him to be placed at the head of the new Negro banking institution. The People's Savings Bank & Trust Co., and it is a credit to the Negro financiers of the city, to say that when the fever of unrest manifested by depositors in the city, because of the failure of the City Savings Bank, caused them to run on all the banks for their savings, the People's Savings Bank & Trust Company and the One Cent Savings Bank, of which Hon. J. C. Napier is the cashier, presented solid fronts and paid every depositor who wanted his money. As usual, when the depositors saw that these two banks had ample funds to meet all their obligations, the money was returned.