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African American Graduates of JMC
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Algernon Brashear Jackson, MD '01
John Hume Miller, MD '03
Henry McKee Minton, MD '06
Mercy Hospital and School for Nurses
Other Early Graduates
Years of Change and Challenge
Opening Doors, James H. Robinson, MD
Cora LeEthel Christian, MD '71
The Faces of Jefferson Today

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Years of Change and Challenge

After the initial half-dozen African Americans graduated from Jefferson Medical College in the first decade of the 20th century only an occasional black or Hispanic-African matriculate would be admitted to the classroom. By default, the two great "black" medical schools, Howard University and Meharry Medical College, were the primary educators of African American physicians in this country.

Not until World War II, when the U.S. military began dismantling the racial segregation of its troops, would changes take place at the doors of American medical schools. The post-war Civil Rights movement brought the struggles of underrepresented black Americans to the attention of all Americans. Another half-dozen African American "pioneers" graduated from JMC during the 1950s.

Still seen as a "white school" during the Sixties, the college also held the dubious distinction of being the last U.S. medical school to accept women (first admitted in 1961). In the 1970s, with national movements underway for minorities and women, early policies to substantively address diversity at JMC were established.

Negro Students Enrolled in Medical Schools in the United States
for Academic Year 1949-1950*
Institution
1st
Year
2nd
Year
3rd
Year
4th
Year
Total
1949-1950
Total
1948-1949
Albany Medical College
1
1
0
0
2
1
Arkansas, University of
1
1
0
0
2
1
Boston, University of
4
1
1
0
6
5
Buffalo, University of
2
1
0
1
4
3
California, University of
0
1
1
0
2
2
Chicago Medical School
1
0
0
0
1
0
Chicago, University of
1
0
0
0
1
1
Cincinnati, University of
1
0
0
0
1
0
Colorado, University of
1
0
0
0
1
1
Columbia University
1
2
1
1
5
4
Cornell University
2
1
2
1
6
4
Creighton University
2
1
1
0
4
2
Hahnemann Medical College
0
1
1
0
2
n/a
Harvard University
1
3
2
1
7
6
Howard University
73
69
66
61
269
263
Illinois, University of
3
1
1
4
9
8
Indiana University
3
3
1
0
7
5
Iowa, State University of
0
0
1
0
1
1
Jefferson Medical College
0
1
0
0
1
1
Kansas, University of
1
3
0
0
4
3
Loyola University
3
0
0
1
4
1
Marquette University
0
1
0
0
1
1
Medical Evangelists, College of
2
1
2
3
8
6

Meharry Medical College
65
61
58
60
244
232
Michigan, University of
3
1
1
3
8
10
New York Medical College
0
2
0
3
5
6
New York (State) University
1
0
0
1
2
4
New York University
1
2
1
1
5
6
Northwestern University
0
0
1
1
2
1
Ohio State University
1
00
1
2
4
4
Oregon State University
1
0
0
0
1
2
Pennsylvania, University of
1
1
0
0
2
2
Pittsburgh, University of
0
1
1
1
3
4
Rochester, University of
1
0
1
1
3
2
St. Louis University
1
0
0
0
1
0
Syracuse, University of
0
0
0
0
0
1
Temple University
1
3
2
3
9
5
Tufts College
0
1
1
1
3
3
Texas, University of
1
0
0
0
1
0
Vermont, University of
1
0
0
0
1
0
Wayne University
0
0
2
2
4
4
Western Reserve University
0
1
0
0
1
1
Woman's College
0
3
0
0
3
4
Yale University
0
1
0
1
2
3
Total Enrolled
162
179
149
153
653
612
*(Table data compiled by Dr. Michael J. Bent, Meharry Medical College, as an annual service to the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the NMA. JNMA 42(4):253, 1950)
 
Entries from Clinic, the Jefferson Medical College Yearbook
   Elmer John Taylor, Jr., '52
 

Elmer John Taylor Jr.
BA, MD 1952
Omega Psi Phi
Alpha Omega Alpha
Temple University
Born Sept. 27, 1924; Single; Service: U.S. Army; Hare Medical Society; Student A.M.A.; Jr. Internship Lincoln Hospital, NY; Internal Medicine;
Internship: Philadelphia General Hospital, Phila., Pennsylvania

  Thomas Walford Georges, Jr., '55
 
Thomas Walford Georges, Jr.
BS, MD 1955
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Born December 9, 1927. Graduate of Howard University. Service: U.S. Army. Contemplates General Practice.
  John Thomas Dooley, '57
 
John Thomas Dooley
BS, MD 1957
Born November 5, 1924, Cincinnati, Ohio. Graduate of Howard University. Served in U.S. Army. Married the former Ruth Bragg. At Jefferson he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, Pasteur Society and Gross Surgical Society.
  Hubert Leon Hemsley, '60
 
Hubert Leon Hemsley
BS, MD 1960
May 26, 1932
3031 Diamond Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bethume-Cookman College.
Phi Beta Pi; Student Council; Married Evelyn Marie Womg; 2 children.
  Ulysses Edward Watson, '60
 
Ulysses Edward Watson
BS, MD 1960
March 20, 1933.
4130 Penngrove Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Temple University.
 
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