By Sara Thompson
Image credit: US National Library of Medicine, Wikimedia Commons
Special to The Enterprise
Dorothy Brown was born in January 1914 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She spent most of her childhood in an orphanage in Troy, New York. As an early teen, her mother tried to care for her, but Brown felt safer at the orphanage and returned on her own several times. At 15, she enrolled at Troy High School. The principal arranged a foster home for her so she would not be homeless.
After high school, she received a four-year scholarship to Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She graduated second in her class in 1941 and worked as an inspector for the Rochester Army Ordnance Department. Having always wanted to become a physician, she enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1944, graduating in 1948.
After completing her year long internship at Harlem Hospital, she chose surgery as her specialty. Not only did she face racial resistance, but also sexist, with many claiming that women could not withstand the rigors and challenges of surgery. Despite all these claims, chief surgeon Dr. Matthew Walker approved her residency at George W. Hubbard Hospital in Meharry, which she completed in 1954. The following year Dr. Brown became Assistant Professor of Surgery and the first African American woman to be made a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. From 1957 to 1983, she was the chief of surgery at Riverside Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1966, Dr. Brown became the first African American woman to be elected to the Tennessee General Assembly. Although her political career only lasted one term, she worked hard for women’s health advocacy and passing Acts requiring public schools to highlight minority accomplishments in history. Following her political career, she returned to being a physician full-time.
She passed away in 2004, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy and pushing boundaries. In an interview she described her perseverance as not hard, but durable. Her work earned her several honorary doctorates, was awarded the Horatio Alger Award, and the Carnegie Foundation’s humanitarian award. She was proud to be a role model for others, but not by what she had accomplished, but by showing young people what can be done.
Explorit's coming events:
• Explorit is open Fridays from 1-4pm and Saturday and Sundays from 10am-2pm. The current exhibit is “Blast Off! A Journey Through Our Solar System”. Admission is $5 per person, free for Explorit Members and those aged 2 and under.
• Find Explorit at the City of Davis Children’s Summer Activity Fair on Wednesday, February 19, from 5:30-7:00pm at the Veterans Memorial Center. Check out our booth and see what we have to offer for summer science camps for kids entering grades kindergarten-5th grade next school year.
• Now is a great time to donate and help Explorit continue to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow: https://www.explorit.org/donate
• An Explorit Membership grants the recipient free visits to Explorit’s regular public hours, discounts on events, summer camps and workshops, and gives you ASTC benefits to visit other museums throughout the world. To purchase or for more information visit https://www.explorit.org/membership or call Explorit at 530-756-0191.
• Celebrate your birthday at Explorit! Offered Saturdays and Sundays between 2-4pm, this two hour program includes themed group activities and crafts, a decorated party room, and exclusive access to Explorit’s Exploration Gallery. Themes include Amazing Animals, Dynamic Dinosaurs, and Blast Off! Space. Call 530-756-0191 to reserve. More information found at https://www.explorit.org/birthday-parties.
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