This Black Kansas City dermatologist broke new ground. He’s earned his retirement
Only 3% percent of dermatologists in the country are Black. Bertram Caruthers Jr., is one of them, and quite possibly the first African American skin specialist in the metropolitan area to open his own practice. For decades, Caruthers was considered the go-to dermatologist for minorities in Kansas City. He called it a career this week after 45 years in private practice.
“There was no one else (African American) here when I started my practice” in 1977, Caruthers said inside his office on East 63rd Street just west of Prospect in Kansas City.
When we talk Black history in Kansas City, we cannot forget Caruthers, who served predominantly Black clientele on both sides of the state line.
Monday was the last day at the office for Caruthers. It was not a slow day. Patients came in droves for their regularly scheduled appointments. Most wanted to say goodbye to Kansas City’s pioneer skin doctor.
A barbecue lunch was catered. Leola Tooks, 77, of Kansas City, presented Caruthers with his favorite sauce from Pitmaster LT’s, an area Black-owned business. Caruthers has treated Tooks and her husband Luther’s skin conditions for nearly 30 years.
“We’re going to miss him,” Leola Tooks said. “He’s outstanding.”
Caruthers is a native of Kansas City, Kansas. He went to Sumner High School and the University of Kansas. He graduated from Howard University’s School of Medicine and then enlisted in the United States Army 1971. A month after his Army discharge in July of 1977, he started his local practice.
“I have never interviewed for a job,” he said.
Go back and serve your community, a mentor once told Caruthers. And that’s just what he did. Educating Black patients on the importance of skincare became his goal.
“The skin is the largest organ on the body,” Caruthers said. “You have to protect it.”
Caruthers’ office is in the six-story Location One building at 1734 E. 63rd Street in Kansas City. The building will be demolished later this year to make room for 181 affordable apartments. About 150 Black-owned businesses will be displaced when the structure is torn down.
Omaha-based Clarity Development Company purchased the building, and concerns that the new owners are pushing out small, minority-owned businesses are valid. Location One is in the Swope Park Opportunity Zone, an economic development initiative that makes the company eligible for tax breaks. The new owners have been slow to dispel the fear of gentrification that exists in the area.
If Neeraj Agarwal, Clarity Development’s principal, “wasn’t tearing the building down I would stay another two or three years,” Caruthers said.
After nearly five decades in business, life will be enjoyable for Caruthers, who has very few hobbies. He likes live music and jazz, though.
“And I listen to Nelly and Ludacris,” he said.
Caruthers is the son of Bertram Caruthers Sr., a celebrated educator from Kansas City, Kansas. An elementary school in KCK is named in honor of the elder Caruthers, who once told his son upon retirement, “I can do nothing very well.”
“That’s what I plan on doing — nothing,” the younger Caruthers said.
Not a bad way to end a distinguished career.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
