“Image Ownership: Texas State Historical Association” Thelma Adele Patten was the first African American female physician to practice medicine in Houston, Texas, and one of the first female obstetricians in the state. Dr. Patten was one of four children, born to Mason Barnett Patten and … Read MoreThelma Patten Law (1900-1968)
Dr. Edward W. Guinn was the first African American elected to the Fort Worth, Texas, City Council. He served two terms, from 1967 to 1969 and 1969 to 1971. Guinn was born in 1925 in Fort Worth to a prominent African American family. He attended … Read MoreEdward W. Guinn (1925-2018)
Tone Johnson, medical doctor, Vietnam hero, and civic leader was born on November 9, 1944 to Lyzer (Elizabeth) Marks Johnson and sawmill worker and farmer Henry Johnson in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. After graduating from Carrie Martin High School in Plain Dealing in 1963, he went … Read MoreTone Johnson Jr. (1944– )
Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman. He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys. Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as … Read MoreBenjamin Anthony Boseman (1840-1881)
Dr. Riley Andrew Ransom Sr., the founder of the first hospital for African Americans in Fort Worth, Texas, was born on March 9, 1886, in Columbus, Kentucky, to parents Allen and Alice Ransom. Ransom briefly attended Lane College in Tennessee then transferred to Southern Illinois … Read MoreRiley Andrew Ransom Sr. (1886-1951)
Bernard Anthony Harris Jr. is a scientist, surgeon, astronaut, entrepreneur, and leader. He is best known for having been the first African American to walk in space, and developing the non-profit known as the Harris Foundation. Harris was born on June 26, 1956 in Temple, … Read MoreBernard A. Harris Jr. (1956- )
Dentist, community leader, and civil rights activist Henry Boyd Hall was born September 12, 1899 in Palestine, Texas, Hall attended Palestine’s Lincoln High School, and later Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College where he graduated as a Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1923. After … Read MoreHenry Boyd Hall (1899-1974)
Renowned surgeon and pioneer in organ transplants, Samuel Lee Kountz was born on August 20, 1930 to Samuel Kountz, Sr. and Emma Montague in Lexa, Arkansas. He was raised in the town of Lexa, one of the most impoverished areas of Arkansas. Without a doctor … Read MoreSamuel Lee Kountz Jr. (1930-1981)
Nathan Francis Mossell was an African American doctor who helped establish the first black hospital in Philadelphia. Mossell, the son of Aaron and Eliza Bowers Mossell, was born on July 27, 1856 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada but grew up in Lockport, New York where he … Read MoreNathan Francis Mossell (1856-1946)
Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada’s first black doctor, was born April 7, 1837 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the son of free black property owners William Ruffin Abbott and his wife Ellen (Toyer) Abbott who left Alabama after their store had been destroyed. They settled briefly … Read MoreAnderson Ruffin Abbott (1837-1913)
