Black Women in Dentistry
In celebration of Black History Month 2024, the Dentistry Library has put together a small exhibit highlighting Black women who have worked in dentistry.
Ida Gray (1867 – 1953)
Ida Gray was the first African American woman to become a dentist. She graduated from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1890 and opened a practice that served both Black and white patients in Cincinnati. In 1895, she moved her practice to Chicago, where she practiced until her retirement in 1928. She was involved in various clubs, and has often been cited as an inspiring example for others to follow.
Read more here.
Gertrude Curtis (1880 – 1973)
Gertrude Curtis was the first Black woman to be a licensed dentist in New York State. She graduated from the New York College of Dental and Oral Surgery in 1909. She then ran a weekly clinic at Bellevue Hospital in New York, and had a private practice in Harlem. She was active in community and activist organizations, as well as in the political world.
Read more here.
Doris Marshall (1924 – 1987)
Doris Marshall was the first Black student at Dalhousie Dental Faculty. She studied philosophy and psychology at McGill University before getting her DDS at Dalhousie in 1956. After graduating, she became a school dentist in Brantford, Ontario. After marrying Walter Harris in 1960, she moved to New Jersey and opened a private practice. She was interviewed by a local New Jersey newspaper twice about being a woman dentist, and advocated for other women to join the profession.
Read more here.
Vada Somerville (1885 – 1972)
Vada Somerville was a civil rights activist and dentist. She got her DDS at the University of devote herself to civil rights activism and community organizations full time. With her husband, John Alexander Somerville (also a dentist), she founded the Dunbar Hotel. The hotel was a hub of the Los Angeles African American community. Her activism focused on African American civil rights and women's right to vote.
Read more here.
Olive Myrtle Henderson (1877 – 1957)
Olive Myrtle Henderson was the first African American woman to get a dentistry degree from Northwestern University, graduating in 1908. She was directly inspired by Ida Gray, the first African American woman dentist, who had been her dentist. She established a private practice in Chicago where she practiced until her retirement in 1948, after 40 years of working in dentistry.
Read more here.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Gray
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Curtis
https://www.dal.ca/faculty/dentistry/news-events/news/2021/02/25/doris_marshall__dds_56___the_faculty_of_dentistry_s_first_black_student.html
https://books-scholarsportal-info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/uri/ebooks/ebooks3/utpress/2015-01-13/1/9781442627468
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_Somerville
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Myrtle_Henderson
Image sources:
https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/images/dentistry/DENT_dorismarshall67%20copy.jpg.lt_15ea29e70b56ab8db6fb46c45112a614.res/DENT_dorismarshall67%20copy.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Gray#/media/File:Ida_Gray_Nelson.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Curtis#/media/File:GertrudeCurtis1910.png
https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/images/dentistry/DENT_dorismarshall74.jpg.lt_ae47f91a77ef3095d636d2c95392c06e.res/DENT_dorismarshall74.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_Somerville#/media/File:Vada_Somerville,_1912.jpg
https://galter.northwestern.edu/news/northwestern-s-african-american-medical-and-dental-pioneers.pdf
