Trailblazers in Black History: Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown

 

Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown (January 7, 1919 – June 13, 2004), also known as "Dr. D.", was an African-American surgeon, legislator and teacher. She was the first female surgeon of African-American ancestry from the Southeastern United States. She was also the first African American to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly having been elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. 

Additional information on Dr. Brown is available here. 

Source: Wikipedia

 was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 7, 1919. Within weeks after she was born, Brown’s unmarried mother Edna Brown moved to upstate New York and placed her five-month-old baby daughter in the predominantly white Troy Orphan Asylum (later renamed Vanderhyden Hall) in Troy, New York. Brown was a demonstrably bright child, and became interested in medicine after she had a tonsillectomy at age five. - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/brown-dorothy-lavinia-1919-2004#sthash.HqhvyYIv.dpuf

Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown was a medical pioneer, educator, and community leader.  In 1948-1949 Brown became the first African American female appointed to a general surgery residency in the de jure racially segregated South.  In 1956 Brown became the first unmarried woman in Tennessee authorized to be an adoptive parent, and in 1966 she became the first black woman representative to the state legislature in Tennessee.

Brown was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 7, 1919. Within weeks after she was born, Brown’s unmarried mother Edna Brown moved to upstate New York and placed her five-month-old baby daughter in the predominantly white Troy Orphan Asylum (later renamed Vanderhyden Hall) in Troy, New York. Brown was a demonstrably bright child, and became interested in medicine after she had a tonsillectomy at age five. - See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/brown-dorothy-lavinia-1919-2004#sthash.HqhvyYIv.dpuf