People, Locations, Episodes

Verina M. Jones, Physician, and Public Servant born

*Verina Morton Jones was born on this date in 1865.  She was a Black physician, suffragist, and club woman. Verina Harris Morton Jones was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to William D. and Kittie Stanley. From 1884 she attended the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She graduated and earned her M.D. in 1888. Following […]

Jesse Sleet Scales, Nurse born

*The birth of Jessie Sleet Scales is celebrated on this date in 1865.  She was a Black nurse and public health advocate.    Jessie Sleet was born in Stratford, Canada. She attended Provident Hospital in Chicago and graduated in 1895. She then took a half-year course at the Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. She subsequently […]

Samuel G. Elbert, Doctor born

*On this date in 1865, Samuel G. Elbert, Sr., was born. He was a Black Doctor, Businessman, and Civic and Community Leader. He was born on a farm near Chestertown, Maryland. He received an early education in the primary schools of Chestertown and later entered the pre-medical program at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1891, he […]

Dr. Thomas Unthank, Kansas City Medical Pioneer born

*The birth of Thomas C. Unthank in 1866 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American Physician.

From Greensboro, North Carolina, he enrolled at Howard University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. in 1894. He graduated in 1898, moved to Kansas City, Missouri and opened Lange Hospital. In 1903 a devastating flood hit Kansas City. Hundreds of people were injured or sick, and all hospitals were overcrowded with the wounded. Convention Hall, in downtown Kansas City, became a makeshift hospital.

Valdo Turner, Physician born.

*The birth of Valdo Turner is celebrated on this date in 1866. He was a Black doctor. Valdo Turner was from Tennessee; he had seven siblings. Turner graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1898 and relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota. He married Clara Elizabeth Turner in 1918 in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had one daughter: Valdora Frazer […]

Charles Turner, Zoologist, and Inventor born

*On this date in 1867, Charles Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was an African American zoologist and inventor.

Ida Gray Nelson, Dentist born

*The birth of Ida Gray Nelson Rollins in 1867 is celebrated on this date. She was an African American dentist.

Ida Gray was born in Clarksville, Tennessee; at an early age she and her parents moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended Gaines Public High School in Cincinnati, graduating in 1887. She entered the University of Michigan Dental School and received her DDS degree in 1890. At this time Gray became the first Black woman in America to earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree. She returned to Cincinnati where she established a very successful private practice.

Robert R. Taylor, Architect born

Robert R. Taylor, an African American architect, was born on this date in 1868.

Born in Wilmington, N.C., Robert Robinson Taylor came from a middle-class family. His father, Henry, was the son of a white slave owner and a Black mother. The elder Taylor had been allowed to go into business for himself before the Civil War, building cargo ships for trade routes between the United States and South America through the Caribbean. He also built many commercial and residential edifices.

Jane ‘Nellie’ Datcher, Botanist, Teacher, and Woman’s Activist

*This date in 1868 is celebrated as the birth date of Jane ‘Nellie’ Datcher. She was a Black botanist and women’s activist. Jane Eleanor Datcher was born and raised in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Samuel and Mary Victoria Cook Datcher. Her maternal grandfather, Rev. John Francis Cook, Sr., was the founding pastor of the […]

Benjamin Covington, Doctor and Teacher born

*Benjamin Covington’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1869. He was a Black doctor, teacher, and community activist.  Benjamin Jesse Covington was born in Marlin, Texas, to formerly enslaved parents Ben and Georgiana Covington. He spent much of his early life working on a farm in Marlin, and his aptitude for surgical procedures flourished […]

Augustus Lushington, Veterinarian born

*Augustus Lushington was born on this date in 1869. He was an African American Veterinarian.

Adah Thoms, Nurse, and Educator born

*Adah Belle Thoms was born on this date in 1870. She was an African American nurse, educator, administrator and activist.

John Henry Jordan, Doctor born

*John Henry Jordan was born on this date in 1870.  He was a Black doctor and philanthropist.   He was born in Hogansville, Georgia, and was the second son of Berry and Isabella Jordan, both former slaves. His mother died when he was two.  Jordan was educated at Clark College in Atlanta before relocating to Nashville, […]

Amanda Gray Hilyer, Pharmacist, and Entrepreneur born

*Amanda Gray Hilyer was born on this date in 1870.  She was a Black entrepreneur, pharmacist, civic worker, and activist.  Amanda Victoria Brown was born in Atchison, Kansas. She attended public schools in Kansas and married pharmacist Arthur S. Gray. In around 1897, the couple moved to Washington D.C., and she attended Howard University. She obtained her […]

George Jewett Jr., Collegiate Football Letterman and Doctor born

*George Jewett Jr. was born on this date in 1870.  He was a Black doctor, businessman, and one of the first Black collegiate football lettermen.   George Jewett Jr. grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan; his father was George Jewett, a blacksmith born in Kentucky, and his mother, Letty Jewett, was born in Michigan. He had an older sister, […]