An Extraordinary Sigma 
A Pioneering Doctor From Our Community
The late Dr. I.L Scruggs, an obstetrician, is remembered a a quiet, hard driving, hard working, pleasant professional man. He was among the founder members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and wrote the lyrics to our fraternal song, "Our Cause Speeds On Its Way". Dr. Scruggs served as national president, 1917-1919. A native of Mississippi, he received his medical education at Howard University, where he met his wife, the former Ruth Tappe of Virginia.After the summer of 1914, a time filled with uneasiness of World War I, he etched his name into the halls of fame by penning the fraternity's song's lyrics. He obtained a B.A. in 1915 and a M.D. in 1919. He interned at Tuskegee Institute. A clean cut, ambitious, idealistic young man, Dr. Scruggs brought his bride to Buffalo from Memphis, Tenn. in 1921. At that time there were only 5,000 blacks and 2 other doctors in Buffalo but still the Scruggs pushed on. Despite his growing medical practice, Dr. Scruggs volunteered with the old Buffalo and Erie County Tuberculosis and Health Association (now the American Lung Association of Western New York). Cr. Scruggs also served as the director of the Erie County Cancer Society. Dr. Scruggs was active both in the civic and professional lives of the community, he was an organizer of the Federated Negro Clubs of Buffalo. His memberships included: the National Medical Association, the Buffalo Medical Alliance, the New York State Medical Association, the American Medical Association.
Dr. Scruggs was a founder of the Michigan ave YMCA in 1923, the first black person to serve on the Board of Directors of a metropolitan YMCA in the USA and the founder of the Buffalo Urban League in 1927.
One of the city's most respected physicians, Dr. Scruggs practiced medicine for over 60 years and delivered 800 babies during that time. Dr. Scruggs was the first Black School Health Physician in the Buffalo and Erie county System (1924-1945). The Scruggs were members of Bethel AME Church. Dr. Scruggs was 85 years of age when he passed on to the Omega chapter in Buffalo in 1974. Mrs. Scruggs died six years later in 1980. Dr. I. L. Scruggs personified the Phi Beta Sigma motto: "Culture for Service, Service for Humanity."
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