African-American women have been practicing medicine informally in the contexts of midwifery and herbalism for centuries. Those skilled as midwives, like Biddy Mason, worked both as slaves and as free women in their trades. Others, like Susie King Taylor and Ann Bradford Stokes, served as nurses in the Civil War. Formal training and recognition of African-American women began in 1858 when Sarah Mapps Douglass was the first Black woman to graduate from a medical course of study at an American university. Later, in 1864 Rebecca Crumpler became the first African-American woman to earn a medical degree. The first nursing graduate was Mary Mahoney in 1879. The first dentist, Ida Gray, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1890. It was not until 1916 that Ella P. Stewart became the first African-American woman to become a licensed pharmacist. Inez Prosser in 1933 became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in psychology. Two women, Jane Hinton and Alfreda Johnson Webb, in 1949, were the first to earn a doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Joyce Nichols, in 1970, became the first woman to become a physician's assistant. African-American women have continued to make major contributions to the field of medicine throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston, who in 1986 became the first African-American woman to direct a public health service bureau, led groundbreaking research on sickle cell disease that transformed federal screening programs for newborns. Dr. Joycelyn Elders became the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Surgeon General in 1993, advocating for comprehensive health education and public health reform. Dr. Mae Jemison, a physician and astronaut, made history in 1992 as the first Black woman to travel into space, integrating her medical training with scientific exploration. In recent decades, African-American women have also led major institutions—Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice became the first woman president and dean of Morehouse School of Medicine in 2014, while Dr. Ala Stanfordfounded the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium in 2020 to address racial disparities in pandemic care. Their achievements reflect a long legacy of resilience and innovation among African-American women in medicine, who continue to expand access, equity, and representation in health care today. This is an alphabetical list of African-American women who have made significant firsts and contributions to the field of medicine in their own centuries.
1800s A Caroline V. Still Anderson set up a successful clinic and dispensary in Philadelphia. B
Anna DeCosta Banks, who graduated nursing school in 1891, had a long and successful career as a nurse in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Lucy Hughes Brown in 1894 became the first African American woman physician in North Carolina, and then later in the decade, the first in South Carolina. Mary Louise Brown graduated from Howard University Medical School in 1898 and went on to do post-doctorate work in Edinburgh, Scotland. C
Consuelo Clark-Stewart graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1884 and was the first African-American woman to practice in Ohio. Rebecca J. Cole in 1867, became the second African-American woman to earn a medical degree in the United States and the first to graduate from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, now known as the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler in 1864 was the first African-American woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. D
Sarah Mapps Douglass became the first woman to complete a medical course of study at an American university in 1858 when she graduated from the Ladies' Institute of the Pennsylvania Medical University. Juan Bennett Drummond, 1888 graduate of the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, became the first African American woman doctor licensed in Massachusetts. E
Matilda Evans in 1897 became the first African American woman to earn a medical license in South Carolina. F
Sara Iredell Fleetwood graduated from the Freedmen's Hospital Nursing Training School in 1896. Louise Celia Fleming in 1891 became the first African American woman to enroll in the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia. Martha Minerva Franklin graduated from nursing school in 1897 and worked to improve racial equality in nursing. Sarah Loguen Fraser in 1879 became the first woman and African American to graduate from the Syracuse College of Medicine and became the fourth African American woman to become a doctor. G
Artishia Garcia Gilbert in 1898 became the first African American woman to register as a licensed physician in Kentucky. Mildred Wilborn Gildersleeve served as a nurse and midwife in Florida during the Reconstruction Era. Born enslaved in 1858, she was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 2019. Ida Gray became the first African American woman to become a dentist when she graduated from the University of Michigan in 1890. Eliza Ann Grier in 1897 became the first African-American woman to practice medicine in the state of Georgia. H
Julia R. Hall in 1892 became the first African American woman to work as a resident in the gynecology clinic of Howard University. J
Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson was an American physician and the first woman to be licensed as a physician in the U.S. state of Alabama. Sarah Garland Boyd Jones in 1893 became the first woman physician licensed in Virginia. Sophia B. Jones was a Canadian-born American medical doctor, who founded the nursing program at Spelman College. She was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Michigan Medical School and the first Black faculty member at Spelman. M
Mary Mahoney was the first African-American to graduate from nursing training, graduating in 1879. Biddy Mason, a slave, worked as a midwife and later set up a day care and a nursery in Los Angeles. Alice Woodby McKane the first African-American woman to practice medicine in the state of Georgia. Mary Susan Moore became the first African-American woman physician to practice medicine in Texas between 1898 and 1901. Verina Morton-Jones in 1888 became the first woman to be licensed as a physician in Mississippi. P
Georgia E. Lee Patton, 1893 medical school graduate who went on to practice medicine in Africa. Beulah Wright Porter, in 1897 became the first African American woman physician in Indianapolis. R
Sarah Parker Remond earned her medical license in 1871 in Italy. Emma Ann Reynolds was a teacher who had a desire to address the health needs of her community. Refused entrance to nurses training schools because of racism, she influenced the creation of Provident Hospital in Chicago and was one of its first four nursing graduates. Continuing her education, Reynolds became a medical doctor serving at posts in Texas, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. before permanently settling in Ohio and completing her practice there. Harriet Rice in 1887 was the first African American to graduate from Wellesley College. S
Eunice P. Shadd was the first African-American woman to graduate from Howard University College of Medicine. Nannette Stafford, 1878 medical school graduate from Howard University. Susan Smith McKinney Steward in 1870 became the third African-American woman to become a physician and the first to graduate from a New York medical school when she graduated from the New York Medical College for Women. Ann Bradford Stokes in January 1863 was enlisted as a ships' nurse in the United States Navy. 2nd Lt. Nurse Abbie Sweetwine of 494th Medical Group of the United States Air Force ran triage at the 1952 Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash based on her military field experience. The success of the team's response is credited with inspiring the development of the use of paramedics in Britain. T
Susie King Taylor, first African-American to serve as a U.S. Army Nurse in the Civil War. Sojourner Truth worked as a nurse while she was enslaved. Later, she advocated for formal training. W
Emma Wakefield-Paillet in 1898 became the first African American woman physician in Louisiana. Georgia E. L. Patton Washington in 1893 became the first woman to earn a medical degree from Meharry Medical College. Marie Imogene Williams in 1896 became the first African American female dentist to graduate from Howard University's dental school. Alice Woodby McKane in 1892 earned her medical degree and later went on to open the first hospital in Monrovia, Liberia in 1895 with her husband, Cornelius McKane.
1900s
#
25th Station Hospital Unit, an all African-American unit as part of the Army Nurse Corps, was the first Black medical unit sent overseas during World War II. A
Lucile Adams-Campbell in 1983 became the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in epidemiology in the United States. In 1995 as director of the Howard University Cancer Center in Washington D.C., she became the first Black woman to head a cancer center. Clara Adams-Ender in 1967 became the first woman to be awarded the United States Army's Expert Field Medical Badge. Virginia Alexander was a public health official and physician in Philadelphia who founded the Aspiranto Health Home in 1931 for the poorest members of her community. Ludie Clay Andrews became the first registered nurse in Georgia in 1920. L. Eudora Ashburne in 1912 became the first African-American woman to graduate from Howard University School of Medicine and the first general practice physician in Virginia. Byllye Avery in 1984 founded the National Black Women's Health Project. B
Margaret E. Bailey in 1970 became the first African American nurse to attain the rank of colonel in the United States Army. Cynthia Barnes-Boyd was an academic administrator, professor, and nurse. She was the director of the Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and executive director of the University of Illinois Mile Square Health Center. Edwina Margaret Barnett in 1973 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. (The other was Patricia Ann Jenkins.) Patricia Era Bath, first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. Sandra Dian Battis in 1975 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. (The other was Diane Loren Pemberton.) Lillian Beard is a pediatrician and has served as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sabrina Ann Benjamin in 1981 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (Maryland). Elizabeth Bertram in 1977 became the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Hattie Bessent in 1976 became the first African American to serve as graduate dean at Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Nursing. JudyAnn Bigby served as director of the Harvard Medical School Center of Excellence in Women's health. Bessie Blount Griffin was a writer, nurse, physical therapist, inventor and forensic scientist. Juliann Bluitt Foster became the first African American full-time faculty at the Northwestern University Dental School in 1967. Frances Jones Bonner in 1949 was the first African-American woman to train and to become a faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital Etnah Rochelle Boutte was a pharmacist and the only African American woman elected to the New York City Cancer Commission in 1951. Marcia Clair Bowling in 1978 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. (The other was Vernette Jones Bee.) Nancy Boyd-Franklin was named distinguished psychologist of the year by the Association of Black Psychologists in 1994. Goldie D. Brangman-Dumpson was one of the surgical team at Harlem Hospital that saved Martin Luther King Jr. in 1958. Clara Brawner was the only African American woman practicing medicine in the Memphis area in the mid 1950s. Mary Elizabeth Britton in 1904 became the first African American woman licensed as a physician in Lexington, Kentucky. Rochelle A. Broome in 1983 was one of the first African Americans to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. (The others were Margo Shamberger, Yvonne A. Patterson, and John D. Lewis.) Dorothy Lavinia Brown was the first African American woman working in general surgery residency in the Southern United States, where she started in 1948. Edna C. Robinson Brown was the first African-American woman to practice dentistry in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She began her practice in 1916 as the only African-American woman dentist in New England. Lorna K. Brown was one of the first two African-American women to graduate from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1968 (the other was Doris A. Evans) Zora Kramer Brown served on the National Cancer Advisory Board between 1991 and 1998 and was the first African American woman to hold that position. Carrie E. Bullock, a Chicago nurse, worked to promote the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). Carol E. Burnett was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Prudence Burns Burrell was one of the small number of African American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. C
Barbara McDonald Calderon was the first public health nurse in Iowa. Lori Margaret Campbell in 1983 was one of the first two African Americans, and the first African-American woman, to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. (The first African-American man who graduated at the same time was Paul Jeffrey Smith.) Alexa Canady is the first African-American woman to become a neurosurgeon and practiced as a pediatric neurosurgeon. Denise L. Capel in 1979 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine. (The other was Marjorie S. Coleman.) Mary Elizabeth Carnegie, worked as a clinical instructor and dean of the nursing school of Florida A&M University. Joye Maureen Carter in 1992 became the first African American in the United States to hold the position of Chief Medical Examiner (in DC), and in 1996 became the first African American and first woman to hold the position of Chief Medical Examiner in Texas. Frances Justina Cherot in 1954 was the first African American to earn a Doctor of Medicine from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn May Edward Chinn in 1926 became the first African American woman to hold an internship at Harlem Hospital. Cora LeEthel Christian, who also worked in the Virgin Islands, became the first African American woman to earn her medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in 1971. Donna Christian-Christensen, in 1997 became the first woman physician and first African-American physician to serve in the United States Congress. June Jackson Christmas served as the New York City Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Alcoholism Services (1972-1980). Lillian Atkins Clark was chief resident at the Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia starting in 1924. Mamie Phipps Clark was a psychologist who worked on research regarding black children and education. Patience Hodges Claybon in 1974 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Maceola L. Cole in 1958 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Beverly Coleman in 1987 was the first African-American woman appointed full professor of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Marjorie S. Coleman in 1979 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine. (The other was Denise L. Capel.) Mattie E. Coleman in 1932, an African American physician, became the first graduate of the dental program at Meharry Medical College. Viola Mary Johnson Coleman was the first African-American female physician to practice medicine in Midland, Texas. Anna Bailey Coles was the founding dean of Howard University's College of Nursing, created in 1969. Mary Francis Hill Coley in 1930 became a midwife who delivered both Black and white babies and as well as delivered more than 3,000 babies Natalear R. Collins in 1981 was one of the first two African Americans to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the East Carolina University School of Medicine. (The other was Brenda Mills Klutz.) M. E. Thompson Coppin was the 10th African American woman to become a medical doctor in the United States. Patricia Cowings was hired to work as a psychophysiologist at NASA in 1978. Sadye Curry in 1972 became the first African American woman gastroenterologist. D
Darlene Dailey in 1978 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Vanderbilt University. (The other was Janis Adelaide Jones.) Phyllis Mae Dailey was an American nurse and officer who became the first African-American woman either to serve in the United States Navy or to become a commissioned Naval officer. Donna P. Davis in 1975 became the first African American physician in the United States Navy. Frances Elliott Davis in 1919 became the first African American nurse officially recognized by the American Red Cross. Bessie Delany, who graduated from the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery in 1923 became the second African American woman to be licensed as a dentist in New York State. Clotilde Dent Bowen was a psychiatrist who was the first African-American woman to graduate in medicine from Ohio State University (in 1947), the first Black physician to hold a military commission, and the first woman commander of a U.S. military hospital. Bowen was also the first African-American woman to reach the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Edith DeVoe was the second Black woman admitted to serve in the United States Navy Nurse Corps during World War II, the first Black nurse to be admitted to the regular Navy, and was the first Black nurse to serve in the Navy outside the mainland United States. Helen O. Dickens, in 1950 became the first African-American woman to become part of the American College of Surgeons, and in 1956, became the first African-American woman full professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Janice Douglas in 1984 became the first woman to hold the rank of professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Lillian Singleton Dove, who graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1917, may have been one of the first African American woman surgeons. She also wrote regular news columns about health in the Chicago Defender. Rhetaugh Graves Dumas in 1981 was the first African American to be named dean of the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Also in 1976, she was the first woman, first African American, and first nurse to serve as deputy director of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) Georgia Dwelle in 1906 became the first African-American woman to practice medicine in Atlanta, Georgia; and in 1920, established the first general hospital for African Americans in Georgia. E
Ruth Marguerite Easterling was an American physician and pathologist who worked with William Augustus Hinton to develop the Hinton test for syphilis. She also served on the staff of the Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital in Alabama, and was director of laboratories at the Cambridge Massachusetts City Hospital. Lena F. Edwards was a physician who helped low income and migrant workers. In 1964, she was the first African American woman to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Willarda V. Edwards is the first African-American woman to serve as the president of the Baltimore Medical Society. Joycelyn Elders was the first African American appointed as Surgeon General of the United States in 1993. Effie O'Neal Ellis in 1970 became the first African American woman to work as an administrator at the American Medical Association. Josephine English was an American gynecologist who was the first African-American woman to open a private practice in New York. Anna Cherrie Epps in 1969 became the first African American woman to work as a professor at the Tulane University School of Medicine. Roselyln P. Epps worked as a professor of pediatrics and child health at Howard University, starting in 1981. Doris A. Evans was one of the first two African-American women to graduate from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1968 (the other was Lorna K. Brown) Lydia Ashburne Evans was an early African American physician who worked in Chicago. F
Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee was a physician and civil rights activist. Angelina Dorothea Ferguson, pediatrician and the first associate vice-president for health affairs at Howard University. She was also known for her work with sickle cell anemia. Vernice Ferguson in 1981 was elected president of the American Academy of Nursing. Ella Mae Ferneil was the first African American registered nurse in the state of California. Ada Fisher in 1975 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Wisconsin. Kathryn Haley Flangin was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas. Loma K. Flowers in 1968 was one of the first two women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. (The other was Doris A. Evans.) Debra Holly Ford became the first African American woman certified in colon and rectal surgery in 1996. Justina Laurena Carter Ford in 1902 became the first African American woman to earn a medical license in Colorado. Janice Marie Fox was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. (The other was Judith Ann Ingram.) Yvette Fay Francis-McBarnette graduated from Yale School of Medicine in 1950 and was the second African American woman admitted to the school. Dolores Mercedes Franklin in 1974 became the first African American woman to graduate from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Johnnie Paris Frazier in 1976 was one of the first two African-American women (and one African-American man) to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. The other two were Stella Pinkney Jones and Charles Edward Mathis, III.) Melissa Freeman was a physician based at the Beth Israel Medical Center. She developed the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction, ran a methadone maintenance program in New York, and mentored young doctors. Clara Frye was a nurse and inventor who received a patent for a combination bed and bedpan in 1907. G
Vanessa Northington Gamble is a physician who chaired the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee in 1996. Isabella Garnett and her husband, Arthur Butler, founded the first hospital in the city of Evanston, Illinois that would serve African-American patients. Jessie G. Garnett in 1919 became the first woman to graduate from Tufts Dental School. Fannie Gaston-Johansson in 1998 earned full professorship and tenure at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, the first African American woman to earn that position. Marilyn Hughes Gaston, in 1990 becomes the first Black woman doctor appointed director of the Health Resources and Services Administration's Bureau of Primary Health Care. Wilina Gatson in 1960 became the first African American graduate of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston earning a Bachelor of Science degree from their nursing program. Hughenna L. Gauntlett in 1951 was the first African-American woman to earn a degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and in 1968 became the first African-American woman to be certified by the American Board of Surgery (ABS). Helene Doris Gayle, in 1995 becomes the first woman and African-American appointed as director of the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention at the US CDC. Florence S. Gaynor became the first African American woman to "head a major teaching hospital" in 1971. Mary Keys Gibson in 1907 became the first African American in the Southern United States to earn a nursing certificate. Zenobia Gilpin in 1934 was the first African-American woman doctor on the staff of Children's Memorial Clinic in Richmond, Virginia. Carol Coleman Gray was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio. Deborah Green was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. (The other was LaRae H. Washington.) Margaret E. Grigsby was the first African-American woman to become a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the first woman to preside over a major medical division at Howard University Hospital. Alyce Chenault Gullattee was a psychiatrist, medical school professor, activist, and expert on addiction. She was a faculty member in the psychiatry department at Howard University College of Medicine for over fifty years. Lucille C. Gunning was an African-American pediatrician and medical services administrator who became a specialist in the treatment of children's cancer and the director of pediatric rehabilitation at Harlem Hospital. H
Mamie Odessa Hale was nurse and teacher of midwives in Arkansas. Millie E. Hale in 1916 founded Millie E. Hale Hospital with her husband, John Henry Hale, M.D., in Nashville, Tennessee, the first year-round hospital for African Americans in the city. Beatrix McCleary Hamburg in 1948 became the first African American woman to graduate from the Yale School of Medicine. Jean L. Harris in 1955 is the first African American woman to earn a medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia. Maxine Hayes is an American public health expert who was the State Health Officer for Washington state from 1998 until 2013. Eve Higginbotham in 1994 became the first African American woman chair of a department of ophthalmology in a university. (University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore) Jane Hinton in 1949 is one of the first of two African American women to become a doctor of veterinary medicine. Lillian Holland Harvey was the dean of the Tuskegee University School of Nursing for 30 years. Sandra Cavanaugh Holley in 1988 became the first African American president of the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association. Laura Holloway Yergan was a public health nurse and nursing educator who often worked internationally, in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean. Carol Jean Hubbard in 1982 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Wright State University School of Medicine. Alberta Hunter earned her practical nurse's license at age 62 in 1957 and worked at the New York City Roosevelt Island Goldwater Memorial Hospital for 20 years as a nurse. Gertrude Cora Teixeria Hunter was the first director for Health Services for Head Start. M. Deborrah Hyde in 1982 was the first female and African American to complete a neurosurgery residency at Case Western University. Hyde is also the second African-American woman certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. I
Judith Ann Ingram was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. (The other was Janice Marie Fox.) Eleanor Lutia Ison-Franklin was the first African American woman to earn a position as a "major administrative officer" at Howard University School of Medicine. J
Alma N. Jackson in 1945 became the first African American woman commissioned as a nurse for the United States Public Health Service. Anna Louise James, in 1908 was the first Black woman to become licensed as a pharmacist in Connecticut. Grace Marilynn James, in 1953 became one of two of the first African American women to serve on the faculty of a medical school in the American South. Tyshawn M. James in 1989 became the first African American to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Marshall University School of Medicine (West Virginia). Mildred Faye Jefferson in 1951 became the first African American woman to earn a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Mae C. Jemison, first African-American woman astronaut, is also a physician. Patricia Ann Jenkins in 1973 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. (The other was Edwina Margaret Barnett.) Renee Rosalind Jenkins in 1989 became the first African American president of the Society for Adolescent Medicine and in 2007, became the first African American president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Eddie Bernice Johnson in 1992 became the first registered nurse in the United States Congress Gladys L. Johnson in 1982 became the first African American woman oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Linda Dianne Johnson in 1978 became the first African American woman optometrist in Mississippi. Hazel W. Johnson-Brown in 1979 became the first African American chief of the Army Nurse Corps. Mattiedna Johnson played a role in curing scarlet fever in the 1940s. Edith Irby Jones in 1948 became the first African-American student to attend the University of Arkansas School of Medicine (now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) and in 1985 became the first woman to be elected as president of the National Medical Association. Janis Adelaide Jones in 1978 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Vanderbilt University. (The other was Darlene Dailey.) Marjorie Earline Jones in 1960 was one of the first three African Americans, and the first African-American woman, to earn a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/New Jersey Medical School. (The others were Albert Paul Knott and David Roland Snead.) Stella Pinkney Jones in 1976 was one of the first two African-American women (and one African-American man) to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. The other two were Johnnie Paris Frazier and Charles Edward Mathis, III.) Vernette Jones Bee in 1978 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. (The other was Marcia Clair Bowling.) K
Elizabeth Lipford Kent in 1955 became the first African American nurse to earn a doctorate in public health. Brenda Mills Klutz in 1981 was one of the first two African Americans to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the East Carolina University School of Medicine. (The other was Natalear R. Collins.) Francis M. Kneeland established her own practice as a physician in Memphis, Tennessee in 1907. L
Henrietta Lacks, in 1951 was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer, and whose cancer cells were cultivated without her or her family's knowledge or consent, are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line. Janice C. Lark in 1975 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of New York at Stonybrook. (The other is Mitchelene J. Morgan.) Nella Larsen worked as a nurse in New York City and for a year at the Tuskegee Institute while in her 20s. Following a divorce and in need of income, Larsen resumed her nursing career and worked for 20 years at various Manhattan hospitals. Agnes D. Lattimer, pediatrician, did her residency at Cook County Hospital in 1960. In 1986, Lattimer was appointed as the medical director of Cook County Hospital, making her the first African-American woman medical director of a major hospital. Margaret Morgan Lawrence was the first African-American woman to become a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in the United States Jemima Belle Lawson in 1920 became the first African American to earn the title of registered nurse in Bell County, Texas. Catharine Deaver Lealtad in 1915 became the first African American to graduate from Macalester College, and gained her medical qualification from the University of Paris. She specialized in pediatrics and undertook humanitarian work. Nancy Leftenant-Colon in March 1948 became the first African American in the Regular Army Nurse Corps. Vivian M. Lewis in 1959 became the first African American woman to earn a medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Diane Lindsay who served in the Army Nurse Corps became the first African American nurse to earn the Soldier's Medal for Heroism. Ruth Smith Lloyd was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in anatomy. Myra Adele Logan in 1943 was the first woman to perform open-heart surgery. Marie B. Lucas was a physician and one of the earliest women to practice medicine in Washington, D.C. Hulda Margaret Lyttle was the first African American to pass the State of Tennessee's nursing license exam. M
Audrey Forbes Manley, in 1988, became the first African American woman to become the assistant surgeon general of the U.S. Shirley F. Marks is an American psychiatrist. She was the second African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Ethel Maynard was a politician, activist, and registered nurse who served in the Arizona House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first Black woman to serve in the Arizona Legislature. Barbara Martin McArthur in 1976 created the first nurse epidemiology program in the US. Pearl McBroom developed new ways of observing changes in coronary blood vessel tissue. Ernest Mae McCarroll in 1946 became the first Black physician to work at the Newark City Hospital. Catherine Mae McKee McCottry was the first African-American woman physician in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the first African-American woman obstetrician and gynecologist in Charleston, South Carolina. Deborah Lynne McCullough in 1975 became one of the first two African-American women to earn a doctor of medicine degree from Indiana University School of Medicine (The other was Beverly J. Perkins) Janice C. McIntosh in 1974 was the first African-American woman to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. (At the same time, four African-American men earned their M.D. degrees.) Gertrude Elizabeth Curtis McPherson in 1904 became the first Black woman to pass the New York State Board of Dentistry. Mary E. Merritt became the first African-American licensed nurse in Kentucky. Marie Metoyer in 1951 became the first African American woman to graduate as a medical doctor from Cornell University. Edith Mitchell was a retired Brigadier general of the United States Air Force and an oncologist. She was clinical professor of medicine and medical oncology at Thomas Jefferson University. Jane Evelyn Mitchell, one of the first African American registered nurses in Delaware. Janet L. Mitchell was an American physician known for her advances in perinatal HIV/AIDS treatment. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman in 1962 became the first woman to head a state department of mental health. (West Virginia) Agnes Craig Montier in 1912 became the first African-American woman to graduate from Temple University medical school (earning a doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree). Mitchelene J. Morgan in 1975 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of New York at Stonybrook. (The other is Janice C. Lark.) N
Helen E. Nash in 1949 was the first African-American woman to join the medical staff at Washington University School of Medicine, and the first African-American woman to join the staff of St. Louis Children's Hospital. Nash helped integrate St. Louis Children's Hospital and worked on reducing infant mortality. Joyce Nichols became the first woman educated formally as a Physician Assistant in 1970. Eva M. Noles in 1940 became the first African American person to graduate from the E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. O
Estelle Massey Osborne was the first African American to earn her master's degree in nursing. Lucy Oxley was the first African American to earn a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. P
Doreen P. Palmer was the first woman to head the gastroenterology department in a hospital. Thelma Patten Law in 1955 was the first African American woman to enter the Harris County Medical Society. Margaret M. Patterson-Townsend in 1992 opened the first successful sleep disorder clinic owned and operated by an African American woman. Yvonne A. Patterson in 1983 was one of the first African Americans to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. (The others were Margo Shamberger, Rochelle A. Broome, and John D. Lewis.) Sarah Ewell Payton in 1962 became the first African American woman certified by the American Board of Radiology. Helen Majorie Peebles-Meyers in 1943 was the first African-American woman to earn an M.D. degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine Rose Marie Pegues-Perkins was one of the first African American x-ray technicians. Diane Loren Pemberton in 1975 was one of the first two African-American women to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. (The other was Sandra Dian Battis.) Audrey S. Penn was elected President of the American Neurological Association in 1994 and was the first African-American woman to serve as an (acting) director of an Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Lucille Norville Perez is an American physician known for her work in substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention. Beverly J. Perkins in 1975 became one of the first two African-American women to earn a doctor of medicine degree from Indiana University School of Medicine (The other was Deborah Lynne McCullough) Muriel Petioni in 1974 founded the Susan Smith McKinney Steward Medical Society for Women, professional organization for African American doctors. Petra Pinn in 1923 was elected president of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). Vivian Pinn in 1991 became the first woman appointed the director of the office of research on women's health at the National Institutes of Health. Elinor Powell was a World War II nurse working for the Army who defied anti-miscegenation laws. Inez Prosser in 1933 became the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in psychology. Deborah Prothrow-Stith in 1987 became the youngest person and the first woman to serve as the commissioner of public health in Massachusetts. R
Della H. Raney became the first African American nurse in the Army Nurse Corps when she was accepted in 1941. Rosalie A. Reed in 1973 became the first Black veterinarian to work at a major zoo in the United States. Theresa Greene Reed in 1968 became the first African American woman to work as an epidemiologist. Clarice Reid is an American pediatrician born in Birmingham, Alabama, who led the National Sickle Cell Disease Program at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health.