[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12187-12188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. EVERETT L. DARGAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 9, 2005

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Everett L. 
Dargan, an outstanding surgeon, a devoted husband and father, and an 
all-around good citizen of South Carolina.
  At the age of 15, Everett Dargan, a native of Columbia, won a 
scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later transferred to 
the University of Buffalo in upstate New York where he earned a 
bachelor's degree in biology in 1949. Dargan credits the faculty and 
administration of Morehouse College, in particular then-Morehouse 
College President Benjamin E. Mays, Ph.D. and Harold Eugene Finley, 
Ph.D., for instilling a lifelong sense of academic discipline, the 
inspiration to dream that a career in medicine was possible for him, 
and a dedication to personal excellence. ``Dr. Finley put me into warp 
speed and opened up new worlds to me--embryology, anatomy and zoology. 
Seeing bacteria and red blood cells was like discovering new life forms 
on `Star Trek.' He was a taskmaster and insisted on perfection,'' 
Dargan recalls. ``But he also had a sense of humor. He was my mentor.''
  Dargan contined his education at Howard University's College of 
Medicine where he earned his M.D. and also won First Prize in Medicine. 
After medical school, he completed his internship at Kings County 
Hospital Center in Brooklyn, NY, and was later named chief resident 
surgeon at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center of the Albert Einstein 
College of Medicine in New York. Dargan interrupted his specialty 
training to serve in the United States Air Force as a captain and 
commander of the 3910th USAF Hospital in Mildenhall/Lakenheath, 
England, during the Korean War. Later, he would continue his commitment 
to providing quality medical care to military veterans through his 
service to the Dorn Veterans Administration Medical Center in Columbia, 
SC.
  Dr. Dargan completed his training in thoracic and cardiovascular 
surgery at Boston City Hospital, achieving the post of chief resident 
surgeon, and became a thoracic surgical instructor at Boston University 
Medical Center in Massachusetts. He returned to New York and continued 
his commitment to academic medicine as a researcher and instructor 
through various appointments, including associate professor of surgery 
at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, chief of surgery at Lincoln 
Hospital, and director of surgery at Sydenham Hospital. In keeping with 
his commitment to academic surgery as teacher, practitioner and 
researcher, he taught medical students and surgical residents for more 
than 12 years. Dargan expected perfection and taught his students what 
he learned from his mentor, Dr. Finley. At Lincoln Hospital, he met his 
future wife, a registered nurse and flight attendant at TWA, Carol 
Poyner.
  Dargan has published many surgical papers in leading national medical 
journals and has participated in preparing practicing surgeons for 
board certification. He has given presentations at national and 
international medical meetings. Dargan returned to South Carolina in 
1978 and began a private practice in thoracic, vascular and general 
surgery in Columbia, sharing an office with the late Dr. Cyril O. 
Spann, who had urged him to come home. Two years later, Dargan and Dr. 
Gerald A. Wilson formed Midlands Surgical Associates, P.A., out of a 
shared sense of commitment to competent, compassionate, and appropriate 
patient care in South Carolina. The practice has grown to include Dr. 
Dennis A. Wilson. In 1979, Dr. Dargan joined the faculty of the 
University of South Carolina as a clinical associate professor of 
surgery, hoping to inspire a new generation of physicians to provide 
compassionate medical services to South Carolinians.
  Dr. Dargan is a founding member of Physician's Health Plan of South 
Carolina, now Carolina Care Plan, a fellow of the American College of 
Surgeons, and a former chief of staff at Palmetto Health Richland. A 
life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People, he is also a member of the Kappa Pi and Alpha Omega Alpha 
medical honor societies. The Dargans have two children, Jennifer Dargan 
and Catherine Dargan Phelps; a son-in-law, Peter Phelps; and two much-
loved grandchildren, Addison Morgan Phelps.
  Dr. Dargan is being honored in his hometown next Thursday night and I 
ask you, my colleagues, to join me in congratulating him and commending 
the University of South Carolina for helping all Columbians recognize 
Dr. Dargan's contributions by establishing a scholarship at its medical 
school in his name.

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