Healthcare Executive | The HistoryMakers

Donna Thompson

Healthcare executive Donna Thompson was born on January 2, 1957 in Decatur, Illinois. She graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 1975, and received her diploma in nursing from Decatur Memorial School of Nursing in 1977. She worked as a pediatric nurse at Decatur Memorial Hospital until 1980, when she became a neonatal transport nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Thompson went on to earn her B.S. degree in nursing in 1986 and her M.S. degree in nursing in 1988, both from DePaul University in Chicago. Thompson also completed the Kellogg School of Management's CEO Perspectives program in 2010.

Thompson served as the manager of the pediatric intensive care unit at Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital from 1983 to 1991. She was then hired as the director of nursing as Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. In 1995, Thompson became the chief operating officer of Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) in Chicago, and was promoted to chief executive officer in 2004. Thompson organized the Stand Against Cancer program in 2002, and the Pin-A-Sister/Examínate Comadre program in 2007. Under her leadership, ACCESS became one of the largest federally qualified health centers in the country, as well as the largest provider of Medicaid and Medicare managed primary healthcare in Illinois. Thompson was also a co-founder of the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force.

Thomas received numerous awards for her work in the healthcare field, including the Nursing Star Award from the Illinois Association of Visiting Nurses in 2003, the Chicago Athena Award from Athena International in 2007, the Outstanding Leadership in Continuous Quality Improvement Award from United Way of Metro Chicago in 2009, and the National Medical Fellowship Leadership in Healthcare Award in 2015. She was also named as “One of Chicago's Most Influential Women” by N’Digo Magazine in 2009. From 2003 to 2006, Thompson served as a Robert Wood Johnson executive nurse fellow. Thompson also served as a board member for Access DuPage, and chaired the board of directors for The Chicago Network. She was also a co-founder of the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force.

Thompson and her husband, Robert, have two children.

Donna Thompson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 4, 2018.

Accession Number

A2018.091

Sex

Female

Interview Date

5/4/2018

Last Name

Thompson

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Children\'s Home and Aid Society

National Public Housing Museum

DePaul University

Schools

Oakland Elementary School

Stephen Decatur High School

Woodrow Wilson Junior High School

Decatur Memorial Hospital School of Nursing

DePaul University

First Name

Donna

Birth City, State, Country

Decatur

HM ID

THO28

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Illinois

Favorite Vacation Destination

Brazil

Favorite Quote

Stay In The Game.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Birth Date

1/2/1957

Birth Place Term

Decatur

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Favorite Food

Sushi

Short Description

Healthcare executive Donna Thompson (1957 - ) served as the chief executive officer of Access Community Health Network, the largest primary care provider for minority patients in Illinois.

Employment

Decatur Memorial Hospital

St. John's Hospital

Michael Reese Hospital

Christ Hospital

Access Community Health Network

Favorite Color

Pink

Read more about Donna Thompson

Chet Hewitt

Nonprofit executive Chet Hewitt was born on November 30, 1958 in New York City to Millicent Braithwaite Hewitt and George Johnson. After passing his high school equivalency exam, Hewitt began working as a YMCA counselor in Staten Island, New York, later becoming a program director at the YMCA. Upon moving to San Francisco, California in the early 1980s, Hewitt worked as an after-school program director, and joined the therapeutic foster parents initiative program. He then enrolled at the New College of California School of Law, where he completed an internship with the San Francisco Public Defenders Office in 1991, before receiving his J.D. degree in 1992.

From 1993 to 1994, Hewitt served as the founding director of the Detention Diversion Advocacy Project for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. In 1995, he completed a fellowship with the Annie E. Casey Foundation; and one year later, he became an associate director of working communities at the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2000, Hewitt was hired as an assistant agency director with the Alameda County Social Services Agency’s child and family services division, and was promoted to director the following year. Then, in 2007, Hewitt became the president and chief executive officer of the Sierra Health Foundation in Sacramento, where he was also involved with the blue ribbon commission and the steering committee. During this time, he founded the black child legacy campaign. In 2012, Hewitt became president and chief executive officer of the center at the Sierra Health Foundation. Hewitt helped The Center to launch the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, the Fresno Legal Defense Fund, and the California Funders for Boys and Men of Color project.

Hewitt has received numerous awards for his nonprofit work, including the Black Child Administrator of the Year Award in 2009 and the Robert T. Matsui Community Service Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee in 2016. Hewitt was also a recipient of the Grantland Johnson Intergovernmental Cooperation Award, and the Urban League President’s Award. Hewitt served on the board of the Public Policy Institute of California, Advance Peace, Grantmakers in Health, Valley Vision, and the Sacramento Foundation.

Hewitt has two sons, Chet II and Stephen.

Chet Hewitt was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 5, 2018.

Accession Number

A2018.067

Sex

Male

Interview Date

04/05/2018

Last Name

Hewitt

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Middle Name

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

First Name

Chet

Birth City, State, Country

New York

HM ID

HEW03

Favorite Season

Spring

State

New York

Favorite Vacation Destination

Carribean

Favorite Quote

No One Is Anything Great By Themselves.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

California

Birth Date

11/30/1958

Birth Place Term

New York

Speakers Bureau Region City

Sacramento

Favorite Food

Gumbo

Short Description

Nonprofit executive Chet Hewitt (1958 - ) was the first African American director of the Alameda County social services agency’s child and family services division. He later served as the president and chief executive officer of the Sierra Health Foundation.

Favorite Color

Red

Read more about Chet Hewitt

Dr. Reed V. Tuckson

Healthcare executive Reed V. Tuckson was born on February 18, 1951 in Washington, D.C. to Coleman and Evelyn Tuckson. He received his B.S. degree from Howard University in 1973, and his M.D. degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1978. From 1978 to 1981, he trained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as a specialist in internal medicine, served as an admitting doctor at Philadelphia’s Veterans Affairs hospital, launched a radio program aimed at African American listeners, and organized a support group for sickle-cell anemia patients. His interest in public health led him to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars fellowship, where he studied health care administration and policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, from 1981 to 1983.

Tuckson worked for Elmira Jeffries Nursing Home in Philadelphia as a founding medical director from 1981 to 1985. Returning to Washington, Tuckson worked for the D.C. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration from 1983 to 1985. He then held the position of District of Columbia deputy commissioner of public health from 1985 to 1986; and a year later, was promoted to commissioner of public health for D.C., a position he held from 1986 to 1989. He joined the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation as senior vice president for programs before being appointed as the new president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, serving from 1991 to 1997. Tuckson left Drew University to work for the Chicago-based American Medical Association as the group vice president for professional standards from 1997 to 2000. He accepted an offer from the United Health Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota to serve as senior vice president of consumer health and medical-care advancement from 2000 to 2006 when he was then promoted to executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at United Health where he served until 2013. He then established Tuckson Health Connections, a private health and medical care consulting company.

Tuckson has held numerous appointments in the areas of health care, the federal government and academia including active memberships in the American Medical Association and the Institute of Medicine-National Academy of Sciences. He was appointed to the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and has served on numerous boards, including those of Neptune Technologies & Bioressources, Inc.; the National Hispanic Medical Association; the Alliance for Health Reform; the National Patient Advocate Foundation; ViTel Net, Inc.; Cell Therapeutics, Inc.; Inform Genomics, Inc.; AcademyHealth; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities; and Minnesota Public Radio. He also served on the board of trustees of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, on the advisory board of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, and as president of the Society of Medical Administrators.

Tuckson and his wife Margie Malone Tuckson have four adult children including Kobi, Nia, Dominic and Lance.

Reed V. Tuckson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 5, 2018.

Accession Number

A2018.030

Sex

Male

Interview Date

3/5/2018

Last Name

Tuckson

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Middle Name

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

National Institutes of Health

National Academy of Medicine

United Health Foundation

Schools

Georgetown University School of Medicine

First Name

Reed

Birth City, State, Country

Washington

HM ID

TUC32

Favorite Season

All Seasons

State

District of Columbia

Favorite Vacation Destination

Inside of My Mind

Favorite Quote

I'm in Love With the Unity of the Divine Intelligence.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Birth Date

2/18/1951

Birth Place Term

Washington

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Favorite Food

Eggs, Bacon, Toast and Coffee

Short Description

Healthcare executive Dr. Reed Tuckson (1951- ) founded Tuckson Health Connections in 2013 and previously served as president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, group vice president for professional standards of the American Medical Association, and executive vice president and medical affairs chief of UnitedHealth Group.

Employment

Tuckson Health Connections, LLC

UnitedHealth Group

American Medical Association

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

District of Columbia

Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability Administration

Favorite Color

Blue

Read more about Dr. Reed V. Tuckson

Robert Currie

Healthcare executive Robert Currie was born on June 12, 1951 in Orange, New Jersey to James Currie and Hazel Shelton. Currie graduated from Orange High School in 1970, and earned his B.A. degree in sociology and urban studies from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1974. Currie went on to receive his M.A. degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1978.

After working as director of health systems planning at Chicago Health Systems Agency for several years, Currie became the vice president of strategic planning for Chicago Hospital Council/Compass Health Care Plans. In 1984, Currie joined the Michael Reese - Humana Health Plan, where he was the director of strategic planning from 1984 to 1987, vice president of strategic planning and market research from 1987 to 1993, and associate executive director of administration from 1993 to 1995. Currie went on to become the president and CEO of Unity HMO in Chicago, vice president and COO of Plan Americaid Texas, and COO of Harmony Health of Indiana. From 2001 to 2005, Currie served as the president of Harmony Health Management, Inc. and vice president of external affairs for Harmony/WellCare Health Plans until 2009 when he founded the Managed Care Consulting Group. In 2011, he was named COO of Aetna Better Health Illinois; and in 2014, Currie became the president and CEO of Community Care Alliance of Illinois.

In 2009, Currie was named as one of the Chicago Defender’s “50 Men of Excellence.” Currie received an Excellence in Health Care Award from the Illinois Black Caucus and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) President’s Award, both in 2010. Currie also received a Chapter Leadership Award from the NAHSE Chicago Chapter in 2011. Currie served on the board of numerous organizations including the Black United Fund of Illinois, the Institute for Diversity in Healthcare Management, and Youth, Vision, & Integrity, Inc. He also served as the president of NAHSE’s Chicago chapter from 1989 to 1991, and the national president of NAHSE from 1999 to 2001.

Robert Currie was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 23, 2018.

Accession Number

A2018.023

Sex

Male

Interview Date

2/23/2018

Last Name

Currie

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Black United Fund of Illinois

University of Illinois Board of Visitors

Institute for Diversity in Healthcare Management

National Association of Health Services Executives

Schools

University of Illinois at Chicago

Lawrence University

Orange High School

Lincoln Avenue School

Oakwood Avenue Community School

First Name

Robert

Birth City, State, Country

Orange

HM ID

ROB35

Favorite Season

Winter

State

New Jersey

Favorite Vacation Destination

Jamaica

Favorite Quote

Don’t Give A Handout, But Give A Hand Up.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Birth Date

6/12/1951

Birth Place Term

Orange

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Favorite Food

Liver

Short Description

Healthcare executive Robert Currie (1951 - ) served as the COO of Aetna Better Health Illinois before becoming the president and CEO of Community Core Alliance of Illinois in 2014.

Employment

Community Care Alliance of Illinois

Aetna Better Health

Managed Care Consulting Group

Americaid Texas

Unity HMO

Favorite Color

Black

Read more about Robert Currie

Dr. Arese Carrington

Public health consultant Dr. Arese Ukpoma Carrington was born on July 16, 1958 in Lagos, Nigeria to Dora and Elisha Ukponmwan. Her great-great-grandfather, Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, was the ruler of Benin from 1888 to 1897. Carrington and her mother were separated from her father during the Biafran Civil War, but the family later reunited. Carrington earned her M.D. degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1980.

Carrington briefly served as a medical officer for the Nigerian Airports Authority before establishing a private practice. In 1986, she founded Goldline Limited, a commercial company providing consulting and promotional services to multinational companies and foreign non-profits. She also founded Health and Medical Services that same year to consult on issues of preventive healthcare in the workplace. Carrington enrolled in a master’s program at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she studied in the Department of Population and International Health. Graduating in 2000, she was chosen as the graduate orator at the commencement ceremony. Carrington then became the associate director of government relations and community programs for Harvard’s AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN), helping to secure a health grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest at that time. She also authored Malaria in Nigeria, published in the Fall 2001 issue of the Harvard Health Policy Review. In 2004, Carrington worked for the Pan African Health Foundation, which partnered with the Nigerian government to establish an auto-disable syringe factory in Port Harcourt. In 2006, she and her husband, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Walter C. Carrington, founded Africana Consultants USA to advise on issues of public health and investment promotion.

Carrington served as vice president of the board of directors of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston. As a visiting committee member for the Arts of Asia, Oceania and Africa at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, she facilitated the development of the Benin Kingdom Gallery. She also served on the trustees’ advisory board of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In 2014, Carrington was the recipient of the Newton Human Rights Lifetime Achievement award, Massachusetts State Senate Official Citation, and the Massachusetts House of Representatives Official Citation in recognition of being a life-long advocate of Human Rights.

Carrington and her husband, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Walter C. Carrington, have two children: Temisan Oyowe-Carrington and Thomas Carrington.

Dr. Arese Carrington was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 20, 2016.

Accession Number

A2016.075

Sex

Female

Interview Date

10/20/2016

Last Name

Carrington

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Pan African Health Foundation

Africana Consultants

United Nations Association of Greater Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Visiting Committee

Schools

University of Ibadan

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Queen's College, Lagos

International School, Ibadan

University College Hospital, Ibadan

Corona School Ikoyi

First Name

Arese

Birth City, State, Country

Lagos

HM ID

CAR35

Favorite Season

Fall

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2016.075.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/669715

Favorite Vacation Destination

Anywhere Warm

Favorite Quote

Defend The Defenseless.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Massachusetts

Birth Date

7/16/1958

Birth Place Term

Lagos

Speakers Bureau Region City

Boston

Country

Nigeria

Favorite Food

Plantain

Short Description

Public health consultant Dr. Arese Carrington (1958- ) served as associate director for Harvard University’s AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN).

Employment

Nigerian Airports Authority

Fan Milk Ltd

Health and Medical Services

Harvard School of Public Health

Favorite Color

Red

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/669752

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Arese Carrington's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her mother's upbringing and education

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the history of British colonial rule in Benin

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her father's upbringing and education

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her parents' courtship

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her parents' personalities and values

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her parents' careers

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes the qualities of a successful marriage

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the history and culture of Benin

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about Nigerian independence

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes the ethnic differences in Nigeria

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the leaders of Nigerian independence

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers her early interest in social justice

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington recalls her family's preparation for the Nigeria-Biafra War

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the start of the Nigeria-Biafra War

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her husband's role in the Nigeria-Biafra War

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her early interest in medicine

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about gender inequality in Nigeria

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the Corona School Ikoyi in Lagos, Nigeria

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes the secondary school system in Nigeria

Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers Queen's College, Lagos in Lagos, Nigeria

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her education in Nigeria

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers her early exposure to popular culture

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the misconceptions of the African continent

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the differences between urban and rural communities in Nigeria

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington remember developing an interest in public health

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her early medical career in Nigeria

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about healthcare in Nigeria, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about healthcare in Nigeria, pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the impact of political instability in Nigeria

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the wealth inequality in Nigeria

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the activism of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the history of political leadership in Nigeria

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington recalls the assassination of Kudirat Abiola

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the history of activism in Nigeria

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes how she met her husband, Walter C. Carrington

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the U.S. immigration process

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers meeting President Jimmy Carter in Nigeria

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her wedding

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington recalls the start of her husband's farewell party in Lagos, Nigeria

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the dissolution of her husband's farewell party, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the dissolution of her husband's farewell party, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the death of Moshood Abiola

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington remembers the start of the AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her work with the Nigerian government

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the impact of the AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes the work of the Pan African Health Foundation

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the empowerment of women in Nigeria

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about modernization in Africa

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes the United Nations Association of Greater Boston

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the Safe Schools initiative in Nigeria

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the treatment of girls in Nigeria

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her hopes and concerns for the country of Nigeria

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes her involvement at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts

Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the Benin Kingdom Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about her daughter

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dr. Arese Carrington reflects upon her life

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dr. Arese Carrington reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Dr. Arese Carrington talks about building relationships

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Dr. Arese Carrington describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Dr. Arese Carrington narrates her photographs, pt. 1

Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Dr. Arese Carrington narrates her photographs, pt. 2

DASession

1$1

DATape

2$6

DAStory

4$3

DATitle

Dr. Arese Carrington remembers her early interest in social justice

Dr. Arese Carrington talks about the empowerment of women in Nigeria

Transcript

Now, tell me about growing up. Now, did you--I mean you grew up, you grew up in Lagos [Nigeria], right?$$I grew up in Lagos--Ikoyi, Lagos. I went--my elementary school was Corona School Ikoyi [Lagos, Nigeria]; it was a school that had a lot of the expatriate children in it, so I used to spend a lot of time playing with a lot of my friends after school; and one of the things of--'cause it was--when I was about nine [years old], during the time--the civil war started while I was in elementary school, and when I was at Corona School, there was a school next door--Corona School was a private school, and a lot of kids who were there, their parents were either a civil servants, or they were expatriate kids. We had a lot of good teachers, we got the best books--everything was there at our disposal. And right next door to us was this public school, and this public school it was only separated from us by this fence which you could see through, and you could see the stark difference with the kids there: they didn't have the amenities, they--their uniforms, they didn't have to wear socks and shoes, some would come to school without shoes. And so from the early age--from an early age, I used to wonder, but we're all kids, why were they having it so different? Their teachers would carry canes and they would spank them, and that was not allowed in my school. And we used to go--some of us would go across the fence and talk to them and see what was happening. And you could see that--as kid- we were all the same; we had the same, you know, yearnings; we thought like kids. And I began to think of issues of social justice--things of--issues dealing with education, dealing with equity. So, from an early age, these questions were in my mind; and I would ask, why do some of us have it this way, and why do others don't? 'Cause I didn't believe that people who were less fortunate and weren't given opportunities, I didn't think that they would be able to get--reach their maximum potential.$$Not--without the same kind of start, yeah.$$Yes, without--yes, without that same kind of start.$Now, in 2006 you became the vice president of Africana Consultants [Newton Centre, Massachusetts]. Now this is--is this you and your husband [HistoryMaker Walter C. Carrington], right (unclear)?$$Yes. So, we decided to set up a consultancy focused on two things--or maybe more than two things, but healthcare and investment promotions were the main things; and so I was involved in healthcare consulting and also women's empowerment. Because that was an issue--women's health was not being addressed; and I felt unless you empower the woman, she would not have the ability to address her own healthcare needs. Women needed a voice, and I was vocal in making sure that women understood that their health and their lives were in their hands, and they could not allow the men to dictate to them how they would take care of themselves because the men would focus more on what affected them and not what affected the women. You had maternal mortality still very high, you had childhood diseases still very high, and malnutrition still very high. So these were areas where the women needed to be empowered to be able to advocates for themselves, so.$$Yeah, yeah, so--that sounds like important work. Yeah--I'm tempted to ask--well, I'll ask anyway. In what ways did men try to control women's health access? I mean how, and for what reasons?$$Well, there were--like going to basic local levels now. I will go to like when I worked in the teaching hospital in Nigeria--University College Hospital [University College Hospital, Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria]. A lot of times, a woman would have had several children--she would be tired. She would say she's had seven, eight children, but her husband wants her to continue because either he wants her to have a son, or he feels he needs many children; and they would not be allowed to have contraceptives. So they would come to the hospital and they would say--and their husbands would come with them, and you would see them whisper that, as a doctor should ask their husband to wait outside. So it would look like the doctor wanted their husband to wait outside; and when the husband would go out, the woman would say that she is tired of having children. She almost passed on, the last one; and she wants contraceptive, but she wants something that her husband will not, you know, know what she's doing, and if he asks her why isn't she pregnant, she'll just say, "Oh, it's--," God hasn't given her a baby. So, you know, she did not have the nerve to tell her husband that, "No, I'm done," that she feels she's done with having children. And also, attention wasn't being paid to maternal healthcare. You had so many women dying during childbirth, and I think a lot of the healthcare policies weren't being addressed. Because you look at parliament, in politics, those providing the laws were mainly men, so they had no interest in issues concerning women most of the time; and so you needed to advocate that women should go into politics, women should begin to fight for their own rights, and women should realize that they have a voice.

Read more about Dr. Arese Carrington

Grace Y. Ingleton

Social activist and health care professional Grace Y. Ingleton was born on September 14, 1936, in Panama, Republic of Panama, In 1955, Ingleton migrated to Brooklyn, NY, and graduated from Prospect Heights high School. Later, she would attend Lincoln School for Nursing and receive a Nursing Diploma. Ingleton also earned B.S. and M.A. degrees in nursing from Long Island University. After graduating as a registered nurse, she joined the staff of Brooklyn Jewish Hospital.

Ingleton’s career in long term care began at Midway Nursing Home in 1973, where she has been the director of nursing services and administration for more than thirty years. Serving in this position, Ingleton has obtained several grants to prepare and present seminars and workshops on a variety of issues specific to the long term care industry and has consulted with many major health care organizations. She is also an adjunct nursing professor at the college and university level, lecturing at Medgar Evers College up to 2005. Ingleton is presently a nursing consultant to the Nursing Department at Parker Jewish Institute, part of Long Island Hospital.

Ingleton has been honored by several organizations including The Dedicators, Inc., the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.; Imani Literary Reading Group, Inc.; Savacou Fine Art Gallery; Celebration of Black Artist; The Black Nurses Day Community Services Award for her community service and professional activities.

Grace Ingleton is married to Edward I. Ingleton, who live in Brooklyn, New York.

Grace Ingleton was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 1, 2012.

Accession Number

A2012.163

Sex

Female

Interview Date

8/1/2012

Last Name

Ingleton

Maker Category

CivicMakers

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

Community Activist

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Dedicators, Incorporated

Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Inc

National Conference of Artists

Friends of Dorsey\'s Art Club, Incorporated

Imani Literary Group, Incorporated

New York Historical Society

Greater Allen Cathedral

Caribbean Women\'s Health Association

Schools

Justo Arosemena Elementary

Liceo de Senoritas

La Boca Occupational High School

Prospect Heights High School

Lincoln School for Nursing

Long Island University

First Name

Grace

Birth City, State, Country

Panama City

HM ID

ING04

Favorite Season

Fall

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2012.163.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/634241

Favorite Vacation Destination

New Zealand

Favorite Quote

Remember To Do Something Nice To Someone Else, It Will Make You Feel Better.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

New York

Birth Date

9/14/1936

Birth Place Term

Panama City

Speakers Bureau Region City

New York

Country

Panama

Favorite Food

Cottage Cheese, Fruit

Short Description

Community activist and healthcare executive Grace Y. Ingleton (1936 - ) served as the director of nursing at numerous long term care facilities in the New York City area, including the Midway Nursing Home and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. She was also a professor of nursing.

Employment

Brooklyn Jewish Hospital

Midway Nursing Home

Parker Jewish Institute*

Medgar Evers College

Provident Clinial Society Neighborhood Health Center

The Dedicators

Haym Salomon Home for Nursing and Rehabilitation

Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation

Long Island University

Queensborough Community College

Heart to Art, Inc.

Imani Literary Group, Inc.

Favorite Color

Purple

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/634267

Timing Pairs

0,0:774,28:3096,67:3612,74:14910,248:17490,275:18242,284:23042,325:31876,386:32204,391:32614,397:33024,403:33352,408:33680,413:34336,423:34664,428:38805,454:43599,512:43931,517:46172,564:49482,583:53177,639:53615,646:58455,747:58980,755:59280,760:66705,914:67005,919:67755,930:80884,1086:81132,1091:81814,1109:82992,1136:88262,1274:95050,1354:95440,1361:96675,1393:107985,1636:108440,1645:108700,1650:110780,1697:118815,1776:125865,1901:127140,1928:127515,1934:133290,2015:133590,2061:134340,2072:139815,2083:140495,2090:140835,2095:141600,2107:156850,2342:157550,2357:157830,2362:158320,2374:158600,2379:158880,2384:159300,2392:168024,2643:168472,2652:169240,2666:170328,2686:173464,2749:174360,2767:178136,2849:183747,2873:184932,2893:185643,2903:191802,2960:192243,2969:192873,2982:193125,2987:193377,2992:193755,2999:194007,3004:194259,3009:198050,3072$0,0:3536,91:5100,122:5644,135:8505,163:9185,173:9525,178:12245,317:24476,529:28870,557:46561,795:49468,870:49696,875:50038,883:50551,894:50779,899:52033,928:61654,1062:63234,1090:63550,1095:84440,1368:84840,1374:91986,1421:94296,1480:97838,1535:104773,1567:106014,1584:106671,1594:111124,1693:112219,1711:116172,1742:117102,1768:117474,1775:119210,1816:120202,1835:129998,1974:130388,1980:130934,1990:140250,2136:142655,2190:146100,2281:146425,2287:146815,2294:150370,2308:171070,2669:171466,2676:171862,2683:180380,2828:182030,2867:182294,2874:187713,2969:188532,3007:188847,3013:191934,3068:200422,3169:203046,3233:206244,3287:209114,3325:215310,3363:216500,3384:216990,3392:218460,3439:224298,3513:226038,3559:226328,3565:229170,3641:229402,3646:230736,3692:231954,3729:232186,3734:232476,3740:235144,3821:235492,3828:236362,3847:236942,3865:260563,4188:267288,4247:271244,4311:282330,4515:285200,4642:289470,4754:293040,4851:293390,4857:294230,4871:294510,4876:295000,4885:295280,4910:309100,5048:345586,5496:345834,5501:346826,5520:347260,5529:347508,5534:347880,5541:355061,5652:355530,5661:356535,5671:357272,5690:360555,5769:360957,5776:361225,5781:361627,5788:362431,5810:363235,5826:363704,5834:364642,5853:365245,5870:365848,5881:371952,5934:374647,5989:375109,5998:375494,6004:376264,6025:376726,6036:377727,6055:381346,6138:382039,6154:391673,6297:394984,6353:395292,6358:399004,6398:399478,6405:409742,6597:410216,6610:416062,6727:419696,6793:427740,6864:430802,6906:435176,6959:435715,6967:437101,7001:437794,7017:438487,7028:454070,7302

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Grace Y. Ingleton's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about her maternal grandparents' migration to Panama

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about the West Indian community in Panama and the United States

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her mother's life in Panama

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the discrimination against West Indians in the Panama Canal Zone, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the discrimination against West Indians in the Panama Canal Zone, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her father's family background

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about her paternal grandparents' migration to the Panama Canal Zone

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her father's education and career

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her parents' personalities and who she takes after

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about her upbringing

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers the Escuela Justo Arosemana in Panama City, Panama

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers learning to speak Spanish in Panama

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers an influential teacher

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her experiences of World War II in the Panama Canal Zone

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers the Liceo de Senoritas in Panama City, Panama

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her decision to attend high school in New York City

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her exposure to American culture in Panama

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers her transition to Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn, New York

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton recalls adapting to the winters in New York City

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her experiences at Prospect Heights High School

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers applying to nursing schools in New York City

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers the Lincoln School for Nurses in the Bronx, New York

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton recalls meeting her husband

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the founding of The Dedicators, Inc., pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the founding of The Dedicators, Inc., pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about the Panamanian chapter of The Dedicators, Inc.

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton recalls studying at Long Island University while working at the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers joining the staff of the Midway Nursing Home in Queens, New York

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers her leadership of the Midway Nursing Home in Queens, New York

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton recalls the racial tensions during her tenure at the Midway Nursing Home

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her career after leaving the Midway Nursing Home

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her work as a healthcare educator and consultant

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about the rewards of nursing administration

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes Heart to Art, Inc.

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton remembers the influence of Lawrence Dorsey

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton recalls her introduction to in the black arts community

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about her art donation to the Links Foundation, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about her art donation to the Links Foundation, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton reflects upon her interest in art

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Grace Y. Ingleton talks about the Imani Literary Group, Inc.

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes the philanthropy of the Imani Literary Group, Inc.

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Grace Y. Ingleton reflects upon the importance of community engagement

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her hopes and concerns for the African American Community

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Grace Y. Ingleton reflects upon her life

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes her international travels

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Grace Y. Ingleton reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Grace Y. Ingleton describes how she would like to be remembered

DASession

1$1

DATape

1$5

DAStory

7$1

DATitle

Grace Y. Ingleton describes the discrimination against West Indians in the Panama Canal Zone, pt. 1

Grace Y. Ingleton remembers her leadership of the Midway Nursing Home in Queens, New York

Transcript

I think you were telling me before we started that the Panama, the school system in Panama put a ceiling on where, how far you could go?$$Yes.$$So--$$On the canal zone's area, and the canal zone [Panama Canal Zone] was administered by the America- U.S. government, okay, and they had schools for West Indians, in particular, that went no further than the eighth grade. It wasn't until many years later that they started a high school and that had to be probably in the, the late '40s [1940s], that they started high school.$$So, let me get this straight. If you were a, some other nationality, you weren't a West Indian, you could get a higher education at the expense of the state?$$No you could not.$$You could not?$$No, because basically the workers were Hispanic or Caribbean, and Caribbean primarily, and you had Hispanics but they rarely worked for the canal zone and that's why there's always that, that, that discussion that the canal [Panama Canal] was built by West Indians. They don't get credit for it but there are a number of research, research has been done and shown that this is where the building of the canal came from, truly, West Indians, and those are the ones that came primarily from the West Indies that lived there and raised their families and their only job was to build a canal. So the education, as I said, they brought people with them, women in particular, that educated, trained, initially. I, I know that I learned my ABCs and my multiplication tables. I could, if you woke me up in the middle of the night, I said twelve times twelve is how much and I'd say 144 but I knew that when I was about three or four years old because I used to sit on the stairs, looking into an apartment, a little room, to a room that Mrs. Carrington [ph.] held classes for the children of the people in the community and she would have the front row is for those children that are from maybe kindergarten to third grade and then from fourth grade to eighth grade, you had another, another group that she trained or they went off then to the elementary school and later, much later, just before I came to this country in 1953, they, I guess at '53 [1953], yeah, '53 [1953], they, I went to the junior high school [La Boca Junior High School, La Boca, Panama] to complete my eighth grade and at that time they had then put, initiated, the high school that went from nine to twelve.$$Okay, but when your mother [Edith Pond Brown] was growing up--$$My mother--$$--she could only, she was allowed going to eighth grade--$$--she only could go to eighth grade, eighth grade--$$--but what you're saying is--$$--and my aunts.$$--is that her education was supplemented by the teachers that they brought over from--$$Exactly, yes.$$--home, from Montserrat?$$From Montserrat and from Trinidad and from Jamaica and Jamaica in particular, and Barbados. Barbados had people I recognized that were really quite bright, educated themselves but, or learned from the English, but they were really very well informed. If you had a Barbadian teacher, you were very proud.$Nineteen seventy-three [1973], at Midway Nursing Home [Maspeth, New York] now. You're the director--$$Yes.$$--of nursing services and administration and you were there for more than twenty-five years?$$No, no, no no--$$No? Okay.$$--I was there for ten years.$$Ten, okay, (laughter) we've got that wrong.$$Yeah, ten years, um-hm.$$Ten years, all right, that's a big difference. So, well tell us about that experience.$$It was an interesting experience because as I said, when Earline [Earline Ross] recommended me it was a new facility, it was a facility that was put into a community called Maspeth [Queens, New York] which was made up of people, Lithuanians and, and so on, Slavic areas and they, this community existed in a place called Maspeth, M-A-S-P-E-T-H, and the arrangement that the owners of the facility, Midway Nursing Home, had to make with them is that they will be willing to hire people from the community to work there, for them to get permission to put this site on, in the neighborhood, well, they shortly did, they got their approval. So when I was hired, I did not know that I had, I had to hire people from the community, solely, and I started doing that and when you came into the facility, and again I always seem to end up indirectly with some sort of racial situations, I, on the first floor was the administration staff. I was the only black person in, in the building, in the position of authority and because of my background, I was able to, the owners of the facility left me in charge of purchasing supplies, of hiring, developing their policy and procedure manuals and it was just a really tough job getting started but it was good, I looked at it as good experience for my future. And so when I started hiring, I was able to get people from the community to work the day shift which was seven to three [o'clock], up, a few to work three to eleven, very few to work eleven to seven was a difficult, a night tour, and, in the process of doing that, and this is way back then, in the '70s [1970s], right, in the process of doing that, I had to hire, no, I could not find people from the community to work nights and I'm having difficulty staffing. So I went to the owners and I said, "Look, I'm going to have to put an ad in the paper, not the local papers only, seeking help and hoping that people will come in, if they meet the criteria, then I'll hire them and I cannot just strictly depend on, because I cannot depend on the neighborhood people," so I did. And then when I started hiring, I had difficulty later on and in no time, the community had a community board meeting and they were raging against the owners and they're hiring people from out of the neighborhood and so, of course, all of this came to me, they said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm hiring people. I have to staff the place. I have a health code that I have to follow. I have to provide--." Well, "Why are you hiring those people?" Who are those people? I mean, I'm not conscious of those people. I'm hiring people to work that are willing to work and, and, and the community got together and said that they were not happy because I was hiring people, and I said, well you all define who I'm hiring that's a problem and then I had, they said I had, I was hiring people from Haitia- you know, Haitian people, I was hiring African American people, I was hiring Spanish people, I was hiring some Chinese, I had a few Chinese people, Vietnam, whatever it was, and I said, "Well those are the people that applied and they're qualified. I don't have people from the community coming in to work nights. If you can get me some people from the community that are willing to work the night tour, then I will not have these people and I will follow the guidelines which you all originally agreed to that, people from the community will be given the first choice," and I couldn't get them. And that created some stress between the day shift, the evening shift, and the night tour. So I was constantly, you know, refereeing things through the supervisors, well, to the point that one lady came in one day and she said to me that, it was a horrible story, one of the aides, they had, you know, negative terminologies to call them as they took care of tha- them, as elderly, and this aide was from Brazil, came and said to me, "Mrs. Ingleton [HistoryMaker Grace Y. Ingleton], I don't like to be called names," and so on and so on and this lady, I said, "You're dealing with the elderly, you're dealing with people are confused and maybe they don't know what they're saying but your job is basically to provide care and not to be interacting in a negative way," and so on. She said, "That's fine if you're not delivering the care and having people call you all that they call you." I said, "That goes with the territory of having a job, human behavior, and your point is that you do not react to people the way they are treating you in that manner." Well, a couple of times I had residents that were so hostile from that environment that they spat in the face of one of the, the aides and she unfortunately returned the same negative response. And so, the reason I raised that is because it became quite a, quite a issue in the community and, you know, what the aide had done, not saying what the patient had done, and was back and forth. So I went through that period. I had to terminate the aide and then I thought about it and I said, well, you know, I'm going to give her a long suspension and I'm sure she will resign after that. She never resigned, she came back after nine months that I suspended her for but, but the problem with the situation that became a very hostile one, for me, for a period of time, but I was just determined that if I cannot find people from the community to work, I have to provide jobs to be fair to people that were willing to take the job and do it and I said it's going to be a battle of the wills because I, my goal was always, you bring me staff that were willing to work and I will be willing to hire them. If you cannot do that, then I think we meet halfway and you accept the people that are working, willing to do the work, and it took a while. I mean, I gained an enormous amount of respect from the staff and many of the community people and there are those that never ever accepted the fact that we were not able to staff with the people from the community, not looking at the fact that they were unable to provide the staff. It was a good learning experience for me because it, I mean, it made me a good administrator, I think, better than, than just the paperwork and the ordering and the budget and the policy and procedure, it taught me a lot about human behavior and, and learning when to be flexible and when not to be flexible and learning where to believe, to work by your, by your value system and it brought a lot of issues and value. What does it mean? Do I sacrifice providing quality care for the residents, for those people that are willing to come and do it and learn and provide good care or do I succumb to threats, really, subtle threats and, and verbal threats and so on. They used to look out for my car to come in, there were times that I would have a flat that, no one would know how I got the flat, you know.

Read more about Grace Y. Ingleton

Dr. Christopher Leggett

Clinical interventional cardiologist Dr. Christopher J.W.B. Leggett was born on November 8, 1960, in Cleveland, Ohio, the tenth of eleven children to Willie and Ethel Leggett. At thirteen years of age, Leggett was awarded a three year academic scholarship by the A Better Chance organization to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After his high school graduation, Leggett received a four year scholarship to attend Princeton University. While attending Princeton, Leggett was a campus leader and member of the Princeton University basketball team. In 1982, Leggett graduated from Princeton University with his B.A. degree in sociology.

In 1982, after attending the University of Cincinnati’s School of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, Leggett attended Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his M.D. degree. At Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Leggett was also chairman of the Student National Medical Association. In 1986, Leggett interned in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; after completing his residency at Johns Hopkins in 1989, Leggett completed his cardiology fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1992, Leggett became a physician at the Cardiovascular Laboratory in the Veterans Administration Hospital at the Emory University School of Medicine in Decatur, Georgia. In 1993, Leggett became an interventional cardiology fellow in the Department of Cardiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. During his fellowship, Leggett was under the tutelage of world leader and pioneer, Dr. Gary S. Roubin.

In 2002, Leggett was appointed by the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Practicing Physician Advisory Council in Washington, D.C. for a four year term. In 2002, a Georgia State Senate Resolution honored Leggett for his contributions to society; in May of that same year, Leggett was the recipient of the President’s Award at Oakwood College for being an exemplary role model for Alumni. Leggett is the Director of Cardiology at Medical Associates of North Georgia and practices medicine at Northside Hospital – Cherokee in Canton, Georgia; St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Georgia; and Gwinnett Health System in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Christopher Leggett was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 11, 2007.

Accession Number

A2007.253

Sex

Male

Interview Date

9/11/2007 |and| 2/26/2008

Last Name

Leggett

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Cardiologist

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

American Heart Association

Professional Education Committee of American Heart Association

Strategic Leadership Group of American Heart Association

Development Coordinating Committee of American Heart Association

Disease Management Strategic Group of American Heart Association

Minority Health Issues Task Force of American Heart Association

Center for Disease Control

World T.E.A.M. Sports (Organization)

Physician Advisory Board of Isotron, Inc,

Health Strategies Council

Cardiovascular Learning Partnership

Fuqua Heart Center Cardiac Invasive Catheterization Lab Committee

Fuqua Heart Center Research Committee

Northside Cherokee Hospital Intensive Care Committee

Atlanta Cardiovascular Research Institute

Schools

Phillips Academy

Princeton University

University of Cincinnati

Mary M Bethune Elementary School

Harry E. Davis Junior High School

First Name

Christopher

Birth City, State, Country

Cleveland

HM ID

LEG02

Favorite Season

Fall

State

Ohio

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2007.253.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/564495

Favorite Vacation Destination

Itay

Favorite Quote

I Belong Everywhere I Go Because My Best Friend, Jesus Christ Owns The World.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Birth Date

11/8/1960

Birth Place Term

Cleveland

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Salmon

Short Description

Cardiologist and healthcare executive Dr. Christopher Leggett (1960 - ) was the Director of Cardiology at Medical Associates of North Georgia and practiced at multiple medical institutions in the Southeastern region, particularly in Atlanta, Georgia.

Employment

Medical Associates of North Georgia

University of Alabama, Bimingham

Emory University School of Medicine

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Atlanta VA Medical Center

Piedmont Hospital

St. Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta

Favorite Color

Blue

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/564528

Timing Pairs

0,0:972,22:1539,30:3888,64:8679,194:13215,295:18312,353:23868,550:38678,724:39686,738:54625,926:55195,933:56050,943:56715,951:58995,982:62490,990:70390,1079:70838,1094:74038,1162:83564,1276:87959,1345:92050,1375:98346,1443:103220,1492:103645,1498:115538,1635:119360,1770:124104,1804:124408,1809:124788,1815:126992,1864:127296,1869:127980,1879:129044,1903:133178,1963:133958,1993:144270,2194$0,0:2940,48:15752,274:20043,305:27094,405:27422,410:30348,438:34602,485:40004,609:42267,688:57318,900:59718,937:72554,1055:73464,1132:74647,1149:75102,1155:75557,1162:84479,1255:89376,1333:89704,1338:90032,1343:90934,1360:97564,1446:98131,1454:98455,1459:105790,1574:106390,1581:111708,1641:113684,1681:115660,1695:115980,1704:119420,1833:121980,1920:137472,2125:142874,2211:146700,2234:157146,2443:162390,2499:163226,2514:163530,2519:175538,2649:177720,2655:178269,2667:180193,2678:181922,2705:183560,2727:184834,2747:196468,2875:196820,2880:199752,2899:200182,2905:200784,2914:205035,2981:212555,3100:215290,3161:215920,3173:220200,3245:220468,3250:221004,3263:221540,3272:221875,3278:232760,3463:233160,3474:236840,3534:238360,3575:238840,3582:239400,3591:243310,3613:243700,3620:245260,3652:246365,3673:265269,3950:270454,4034:275134,4089:276190,4136:289440,4286

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Christopher Leggett's interview, session 1

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his mother's upbringing

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about his maternal grandparents

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his early experiences of religion

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett lists his mother's siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his father

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his father's discipline

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his father's occupations

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his father's death

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his parents' relationship

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his likeness to his father

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls the aftermath of his father's death

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his mother's strength

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett lists his siblings

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his brother, Robert Leggett

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers a lesson from his brother

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his early work experiences

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about his early academic success

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his peers at Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remember a classmate at Harry E. Davis Junior High School in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his community in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his childhood activities

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his early aspirations

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his admittance to the Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts

Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his parents' attitudes about race

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his arrival at Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers John F. Kennedy, Jr., pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls the rigorous coursework at the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his friends at the Phillips Academy Andover, pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about his strength as a math student

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his exposure to white culture at the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his teachers at the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his friends at the Phillips Academy Andover, pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his college aspirations

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Christopher Leggett's interview, session 2

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about the Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his project on the Civil Rights Movement

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the A Better Chance program

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls befriending his peers at the Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his activities at the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the campus of the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers John F. Kennedy, Jr., pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls playing basketball at the Phillips Academy Andover

Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to attend Princeton University

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his transition to Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his summer work experiences

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his religious life at the Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his coursework at Princeton University

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to pursue medicine

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls playing basketball for Princeton University

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to attend the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers attending Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his mentors at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers attending the University of Cincinnati

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers meeting his wife

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the challenges of his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his influences at The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his experiences as a medical resident

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his wife's career

Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin Carson, Sr.

Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes a lesson from Dr. Levi Watkins

Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his experiences of discrimination at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland

Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his philosophy of mentorship

Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers a lesson from his wife

Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to specialize in cardiology

Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to accept a fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the field of interventional cardiology

Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes the cause and treatment of a heart attack

Tape: 8 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about the advancements in interventional cardiology, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his training under Gary Roubin

Tape: 8 Story: 10 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about the advancements in interventional cardiology, pt. 2

Tape: 8 Story: 11 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers Gary Roubin

Tape: 8 Story: 12 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to join the Medical Associates of North Georgia in Canton, Georgia

Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his decision to join the Medical Associates of North Georgia

Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls treating a heart attack in a pregnant patient

Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Dr. Christopher Leggett lists the hospitals where he worked

Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his appointment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his organizational involvement

Tape: 9 Story: 6 - Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about his hobbies

Tape: 9 Story: 7 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes his children

Tape: 9 Story: 8 - Dr. Christopher Leggett reflects upon his life

Tape: 9 Story: 9 - Dr. Christopher Leggett remembers his mother's lessons

Tape: 9 Story: 10 - Dr. Christopher Leggett describes how he would like to be remembered

Tape: 9 Story: 11 - Dr. Christopher Leggett reflects upon his legacy

Tape: 9 Story: 12 - Dr. Christopher Leggett reflects upon his wife's influence

Tape: 10 Story: 1 - Dr. Christopher Leggett narrates his photographs

DASession

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DATape

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DAStory

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DATitle

Dr. Christopher Leggett talks about his strength as a math student

Dr. Christopher Leggett recalls his experiences of discrimination at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland

Transcript

What were some of the courses that you took there that you know that you probably would not have been exposed to in Ohio (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) You know, a lot of English, math. I, I think for me, the thing that--and it wasn't all positive; don't get me wrong. I mean I had this one teacher who was a jerk; she told me I had to stop writing black English--whatever that was, and I said, "Okay, I'm not sure what that is, but if you can help me understand what it is, I'll be happy to try and modify it." But the one--the mainstay for me that let me know I belonged was, was math is objective. Whether you liked me or not, there was one answer. You couldn't read my essay and give me a C because you just felt like, I'm not giving this African American student an A because this just, you know, because I don't like the way it sounds. But if you got the answer right in math--so, when I initially went there, my grades initially fell in like subjects like English and biology because it's more subjective, (unclear) written it. But math let me know that I belong, because it was objective and I always got great grades in math, and I just--and it always let me know that I was smart, so that I, I said to myself, I, I'll get this other stuff together, and I'll figure out what I gotta do to raise that up. But it was kind of the mainstay for me educationally because it was, it was non-subjective, it was objective, and it was scientific and, and so it helped me through that first semester not get depressed about going from always being a straight A student to having, you know, some different grades. And then, you know, by eleventh grade and twelfth grade years [at Phillips Academy Andover, Andover, Massachusetts], they were back up to what I was used to. But, you know, you, you have these challenges and you gotta meet them and you gotta have something inside you to meet them with. And those are the lessons, like I told you, about my brother [Robert Leggett], and watching my mother [Ethel Leggett] and father [Willie Leggett, Sr.]; that's--those are the lessons they give you, the sort of undergirding, that when you're swimming upstream, that you just don't quit.$You were gonna tell me a story about one of the patients during your residency [at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland] (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Yeah, well--you know, there, there are--I, I, I can think of two quick ones. I was on rounds one night with the other medical students--or one morning, and we had one African American dean, and he had admitted a patient and, on the rounds the next morning, just to give you a sense of kind of, you know, what students were used to, the students--well, the student who had worked this patient up--a medical student sent on rounds, he had given his presentation, then he said, you know, "Yeah, there was this, you know, there's this black guy sitting there by the patient's bed," and I said, "Well," I said, "did you ask him about his name yet?" He said, "Yeah, he said his name was Dr. Smoot [Roland T. Smoot]." I said, "Well, Dr. Smoot actually is the dean of this medical school." And the student then said, he said, "Well, he doesn't look like a dean." And I said to him, I said, "Well, what does a dean look like?" And, and, and, and, and basically, what he was saying is he had never seen a black dean, so all deans were white; it wasn't--he had a suit on, he looked intelligent, you know; it was his patient, but he just didn't look like a dean. And, and I, I just felt like I needed to take that opportunity to let him know that, "Frankly, you know, you know, you need to broaden your definition of what deans look like because this is a dean. He's the dean of this medical school and, and you, you should know that, being a medical student. But going forward, you know, you really need to guard yourself from comments that are fairly uninformed like this, so that you don't look so--just absolutely unintelligent when you say it." So, anyway, I mean I, I just felt like you gotta take opportunities. This is all about education because that same attitude can pervade another interaction with a patient and, and you just have to take opportunities to help people, you know, sort of be educated. But then there was another personal one that I had that I was taking care of this guy who was on a trach collar, which means he was on a respirator, an African American patient who had throat cancer, couldn't even talk, and I was going in to evaluate him 'cause I was--had to work him up, and he was gonna be on my service, and I kept, kept hearing him trying to mouth something through the respirator and, and I just leaned down and I got real close to him and he was mouthing out, in his words, "You--you ain't qualified," that's what he was saying. And, and I think, you know, what he was struggling with, which is an internal cultural pathology at times, is that, you know: I'm used to a white doctor taking care of me and, you know, I can't conceptually get my mind around having a black doctor take care of me, so--in other words, I want the qualified white guy. And, and it is funny, because I had just taken care of a Jewish individual earlier that day in the intensive care unit who had said the exact opposite; he said, "Dr. Leggett [HistoryMaker Dr. Christopher Leggett], I want you to take care of me," and I said, "Why?" He said, "Because if you're here, that means you're probably three times as qualified as some of the other doctors walking around, since the numbers are so low--it's only two of you." He said, "No, that--I want you to take care of me." So, you would have these social dynamic paradigms in, in care that would exist quite often and, and you'd have to have a very strong sense of self, and the resolve within yourself of, of who you are and what you represented intellectually so that you would not allow yourself to become angry or intimidated one way or the other. But there were sort of variety of experiences that, that you'd experience and, and quite frankly, people--you know, you would walk in rooms in, in that institution; they just did not--it is not commonplace, at that time, for them to interact with the--a physician of color; they, they would think that you're just a, a, you know, a transporter with a, you know, a doctor's coat on; I mean something--they just couldn't, couldn't grasp it, so--anyway, you just, you know, sort of work through that, kind of.

Read more about Dr. Christopher Leggett

Naomi Jean Gray

Naomi Jean Gray was born Naomi Jean Thomas on May 18, 1922, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Graduating from Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, Gray earned her B.S. degree in sociology from Hampton University in 1945, and three years later, earned her M.S. degree from Indiana University in Indianapolis.

A caseworker in the Foster Care Agency in Indianapolis from 1948 to 1949, Gray joined the Planned Parenthood Federation of America a year later. During her twenty years with Planned Parenthood, Gray established and directed seven regional offices throughout the United States and developed guidelines for community education and organizational programs. Gray became the first woman to serve as vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and as a social work instructor at San Francisco State University. Honored as an Indiana Distinguished Citizen, and cited for her work by the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, Gray also founded and served as president of the Urban Institute for American Affairs. A cofounder and executive director of the Sojourner Truth Foster Family Service Agency, Gray also worked as a consultant for several health and family planning groups.

A member of many community organizations, including the National Urban League, the National Conference on Social Welfare, the California State Planning Commission on Minority Business Enterprises, and the San Francisco Health Commission, Grey also served as a member of the African American Child Task Force, the NAACP, and the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce. As cofounder of the African American Education Leadership Group, Gray worked to establish an academic elementary school in a predominately African American community in San Francisco. Gray also served on Mayor Willie Brown’s Task Force on Children, Youth, and Their Families from 1990 to 1993.

Gray passed away on December 29, 2007.

Accession Number

A2005.090

Sex

Female

Interview Date

3/31/2005

Last Name

Gray

Maker Category

BusinessMakers

CivicMakers

Marital Status

Divorced

Middle Name

Jean

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Nonprofit Chief Executive

Organizations

Black Women Organized for Political Action

San Francisco Department of Public Health

National Urban League

Urban Institute for American Affairs

National Conference on Social Welfare

California State Planning Commission on Minority Business Enterprises

African American Child Task Force

NAACP

San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce

African American Education Leadership Group

Task Force on Children, Youth, and Their Families

Sojourner Truth Foster Family Service Agency

Schools

Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School

Hampton University

Indiana University School of Social Work

First Name

Naomi

Birth City, State, Country

Hattiesburg

HM ID

GRA05

Favorite Season

None

State

Mississippi

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2005.090.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/303971

Favorite Vacation Destination

Cruises

Favorite Quote

Don't Walk Behind Me. Walk Beside. As We Walk Together, We Can Accomplish A Lot.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

California

Birth Date

5/18/1922

Birth Place Term

Hattiesburg

Speakers Bureau Region City

Bay Area/San Francisco

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Soul Food

Death Date

12/29/2007

Short Description

Healthcare executive and nonprofit chief executive Naomi Jean Gray (1922 - 2007 ) was a cofounder of the Sojourner Truth Foster Family Service Agency.

Employment

Planned Parenthood

San Francisco State University

Favorite Color

Black, Red

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/303978

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Naomi Jean Gray's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Naomi Jean Gray lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her mother

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her father

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her family background

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her oldest sister, Willa Thomas

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her brother, Edward Thomas

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her middle sister, Doris Thomas, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her youngest sister, Ruth Thomas

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her middle sister, Doris Thomas, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers segregation in Indianapolis, Indiana

Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers her grandmother's cooking

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her father's perception of racism

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers segregation in Indianapolis, Indiana

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Naomi Jean Gray describes attending Crispus Attucks High School

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers attending Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her social life at Hampton Institute

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers her field work in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers traveling with Planned Parenthood, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers her outreach to migrant workers for Planned Parenthood

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers traveling with Planned Parenthood, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers an eventful NAACP meeting in San Francisco, California

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers working with Stewart Mott and Patricia Neal

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Naomi Jean Gray recounts her difficulties at Planned Parenthood

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Naomi Jean Gray remembers working with Native Americans at Planned Parenthood

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Naomi Jean Gray describes being San Francisco's health commissioner during the AIDS epidemic, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Naomi Jean Gray describes being San Francisco's health commissioner during the AIDS epidemic, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her work to treat sickle cell anemia

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her work in San Francisco schools

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her volunteer work

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Naomi Jean Gray describes being a mentor

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Naomi Jean Gray shares her concerns about the regulation of cannabis in San Francisco

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her concerns for the African American community

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Naomi Jean Gray reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Naomi Jean Gray describes her core values

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Naomi Jean Gray describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Naomi Jean Gray narrates her photographs

DASession

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DATape

2$3

DAStory

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DATitle

Naomi Jean Gray remembers her outreach to migrant workers for Planned Parenthood

Naomi Jean Gray describes being San Francisco's health commissioner during the AIDS epidemic, pt. 2

Transcript

There were a lot of very interesting things that happened to me while I was at, at--working for National Planned Parenthood [Planned Parenthood Federation of America]. I would spend a week or ten days for five years living in a migrant camp in Florida for the purpose of talking about health and health issues at family planning and we would have the best time, the women, the migrant women who worked so hard following the crops and whether they were pregnant or not, they still had to get out there and hard labor, back breaking labor. But we would talk--there was--one of the women said well she guessed she would have seven children because her mother did it. I said, "Well this is not an inherited thing. You don't inherit this from your mother. You can only inherit this from a man." And she would laugh and think I was so funny and but they would bring fish from Okeechobee Lake [Lake Okeechobee] and vegetables because I lived with the public health nurse there and I remember during that segregated time there was a white guy at the State--Florida State Department of Health [Florida Department of Health] and I had worked with him on some projects and he wanted me to go out to this place where these migrant workers were, all black and of course, they would import for the other labor like cutting cane because those black folks weren't getting in there with those snakes and stuff and cutting cane in the field but they would bring them in from Haiti and in from Jamaica and one of the things that happened that, eventually AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] in that little place, had the highest incidence of AIDS of any place in the country and that was because when the gay men would go to Haiti and have relationships with those men and that was the onset of you know before we knew a lot about AIDS as a, as a--such a difficult problem. But we developed a, a card for those migrant workers and their children because they would immunize these children over and over again as they traveled up the road. So they then had a little wallet card, they didn't have a wallet, but a card and say just put it where you have your little papers so that if you have to go into a clinic or a hospital, they will have your health history and know what has happened to you so that you are not you know being treated again or children immunized again. And that was really--and that subsequently I presented a paper at the International Planned Parenthood Federation in Singapore talking about my work living with migrants and developing health and family planning programs.$And then I'd said I wanted to be chair of the budget committee [of the San Francisco Health Commission] because we had half billion dollar budget, and whoever distributed that money was very key. And I turned down being president of the committee because I said, "No, I wanna be budget chair of this committee to see where the money goes and who gets the money and how I can change their contracting practices," where blacks weren't getting contracts for some of the things that were being done. Of course, the health department [San Francisco Department of Public Health] staff and people fought it, having a commission, but I was overseeing the money so Phil Lee [Philip Randolph Lee], who used to be the chancellor at UCSF [University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California], was president of the commission because Dianne [Senator Dianne Feinstein] had appointed all of us and he said, "You're smart. You knew--you got where the money was." And I said, "Well I learned that many years ago many years ago at Planned Parenthood [Planned Parenthood Federation of America]. You find out where the power is and then that's where you go." And so I did a lot to change a lot of the contracting practices, more money for health programs for, for minority communities that weren't getting them and started early on with the AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] thing. I started working on, on that in 1991 with the Ph.D. Benajet [ph.]--what was her name? Benajet. We did a study and wrote a report on AIDS in San Francisco [California] and just the realities and new solutions of what we were going to do. In 1988, I went to Cecil Williams and I said, "Cecil, what can we do to get the black churches tuned in to this whole thing because we know that they have gay people in their congregation. They play the piano or they direct the choirs. I know they're there." And he said, "Well, why don't we have a conference?" I said, "Okay, I'll go to a foundation and get enough money so that we can have this conference on the role of the black church in the fight against AIDS." Well, we couldn't find a church over here that would allow us to have that conference and Cecil, you know his relationship to the church, 'cause he's done so much more than they do, so he found the--a church [Allen Temple Baptist Church] in Oakland [California], Reverend Green [ph.], as I remember was his name and we--and I organized that conference, J. Alfred Smith [Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr.] and a whole--some of those people came and that was the beginning of trying to open up the doors to the clergy to try to get them to see that they had a role to play in getting this information to, to black people. We can't sit around and wait. Well, we sat around and waited, but I did. I kept pushing and shoving and calling together black people of all persuasions that led to the formation of the Black Coalition on AIDS [Rafiki Coalition] here. And they still aren't doing as much as I think they ought to do. There is still denial, and but we just have to keep moving and getting information out because, you know, our young people and women and men are dying from this disease. And so that was something I started and was able to push on the health commission to keep that in the forefront of how we have to be taken care of too with prevention and education.

Read more about Naomi Jean Gray

Delores Brisbon

Hospital CEO Delores Flynn Brisbon was born February 12, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Felton A. and Inez Ellis Flynn. Brisbon attended Douglas Anderson Elementary School and graduated salutatorian from Stanton High School in 1950. Brisbon earned her B.S. degree in nursing from Tuskegee University in 1954; later, in 1974, she was awarded a sociology degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

From 1954 to 1956, Brisbon worked as assistant to the director of nursing services and as a clinical instructor for Tuskegee University’s John Andrew Hospital. In 1957, Brisbon became director of Nursing Services at Dillard University’s Flint Goodridge Hospital. Moving back to Tuskegee, Brisbon married James Brisbon; the couple then moved to Philadelphia where she became head nurse at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1959. Brisbon was promoted to supervisor of medical nursing in 1962, and in 1974, became staff person to the executive director. In 1975, Brisbon was hired as director of planning and systems where she led the construction of the $46 million Silverstein Pavilion and the $116 million Founders Pavilion. In 1980, Brisbon was appointed chief operating officer, managing a budget of over $300 million; she guided a multi-million dollar construction project before retiring after her husband’s illness in 1986. In 1987, Brisbon formed Brisbon and Associates, a healthcare consulting firm which she operated until 2003.

Active in the Philadelphia community, Brisbon was responsible for negotiations with the University of Pennsylvania that resulted in the relocation and construction of the Walnut Child Care Center. Brisbon also served on the boards of Eastern University; Mercy Health System; Eastern Baptist Seminary; and Community College of Philadelphia. Brisbon founded and served as chairperson of the board of the Mother Bethel Foundation for which she has raised a million dollars. In addition to her professional activities, Brisbon has raised two children.

Accession Number

A2005.042

Sex

Female

Interview Date

2/8/2005

Last Name

Brisbon

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Widow

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Eastern Baptist Seminary

Mercy Health Systems Board

Schools

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

New Stanton High School

First Name

Delores

Birth City, State, Country

Jacksonville

HM ID

BRI04

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Florida

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2005.042.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/260791

Favorite Vacation Destination

Bermuda

Favorite Quote

He That Dwell In The High Places Of God Will Be At Peace.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Pennsylvania

Birth Date

2/12/1933

Birth Place Term

Jacksonville

Speakers Bureau Region City

Philadelphia

Country

United States

Favorite Food

None

Short Description

Healthcare executive Delores Brisbon (1933 - ) served as the Director of Planning and Systems, and COO of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Brisbon later formed Brisbon and Associates.

Employment

John Andrew Hospital

Flint-Goodridge Hospital

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Brisbon & Associates

Favorite Color

Black

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/260380

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Delores Brisbon's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Delores Brisbon lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Delores Brisbon describes her maternal family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Delores Brisbon describes her paternal family background

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Delores Brisbon describes her siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Delores Brisbon describes her childhood experiences in Jacksonville, Florida

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Delores Brisbon describes two mentors that impacted her growing up

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Delores Brisbon describes her childhood personality and schools she attended in Jacksonville, Florida

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Delores Brisbon remembers Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida and its pastor Reverend Saul Cooper

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Delores Brisbon describes her favorite childhood activities

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Delores Brisbon recalls memorable teachers from her elementary and high school years

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Delores Brisbon explains how her family's support helped her attend Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Delores Brisbon describes the racism she witnessed growing up in Jacksonville, Florida

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Delores Brisbon describes her experience at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Delores Brisbon talks about the Tuskegee Institute Chapel in Tuskegee, Alabama burned by the Ku Klux Klan

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Delores Brisbon reflects upon the impact of attending Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Delores Brisbon talks about her training at the School of Nursing at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Delores Brisbon recalls her training at the Tuskegee Veteran Administration Medical Center in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Delores Brisbon talks about the Tuskegee syphilis experiment

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Delores Brisbon talks about her social experiences at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Delores Brisbon recalls her time in New York, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Delores Brisbon recalls the racial demographics at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Delores Brisbon talks about working at John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama and Flint-Goodridge Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Delores Brisbon talks about how she met her husband

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Delores Brisbon describes the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Delores Brisbon remembers encountering racial discrimination at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Delores Brisbon talks about her rise from head nurse to chief operating officer of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Delores Brisbon talks about being the first black woman to serve as chief operating officer of an elite hospital

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Delores Brisbon remembers challenges to her leadership at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Delores Brisbon talks about her proudest accomplishments as chief operating officer of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Delores Brisbon talks about founding and running Brisbon & Associates

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Delores Brisbon talks about her husband's illness and why she agreed to be interviewed by The HistoryMakers

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Delores Brisbon shares her philosophy for a successful marriage

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Delores Brisbon talks about founding and running the Mother Bethel Foundation

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Delores Brisbon talks about her work for the Mother Bethel Foundation

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Delores Brisbon talks about her volunteer work

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Delores Brisbon describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Delores Brisbon reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Delores Brisbon reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Delores Brisbon talks about her father and her husband witnessing her professional success

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Delores Brisbon describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Delores Brisbon narrates her photographs

DASession

1$1

DATape

2$3

DAStory

2$5

DATitle

Delores Brisbon talks about the Tuskegee Institute Chapel in Tuskegee, Alabama burned by the Ku Klux Klan

Delores Brisbon remembers challenges to her leadership at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Transcript

The chapel at Tuskegee [Institute; Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama] was torched by the [Ku Klux] Klan [KKK] at the time that I was there and we watched from our dormitory windows as the chapel was destroyed by fire. And it was done because of Dean [Charles G.] Gomillion's active participation in civil rights. And I think what that lesson taught me was that what you believe in you have to stand for. In ways that, only in my sixties did I realize what an impact that had made on me, that he didn't back down. He was not killed; he lived to a nice old age.$$So what year was this when the--when the chapel was torched?$$See I graduated from Tuskegee in '54 [1954], so it must have been '52 [1952] or so [sic. 1957]. And a new one was built in its place, but those windows in that chapel had been made by the students and so they were priceless collections. It was a significant pain for all of us. But I think that as a community, as a culture within Tuskegee, while losing the chapel the lasting lesson is the one that I tell you about right now. And for us--for those of us in nursing it was more vivid, because the chapel happened to sit diagonally from our dormitory window. So we could stand in the window and see those flames. And next to it were people's graves like George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, and the Moats [ph.] and the Mortons [sic. Motons], all of which who were the founders and stabilizers of Tuskegee. So as that chapel burned, we could also see the stuff falling on their graves. It was a powerful experience, but when the pain subsided it left most of us with the courage to do what we must and to do it without rancor because that's what Dean Gomillion did.$$Now the chapel was burnt. This is like prior to the activities of [Reverend] Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] actually, '52 [1952] (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Oh yeah, absolutely.$$So Dean Gomillion, was he involved in civil rights activities on his own in Tuskegee [Alabama] in the Alabama area?$$Yeah, he was. Yeah, he was kind of like a rebel.$$I just wanna make sure he gets the credit that he (laughter).$$Yeah. He deserves it. It's a very--and he was dean of students and I don't quite know the history of what he did to bring on this, excuse me, anger but it did. But the community of Tuskegee, as well as the board was in great support of what he did--$$Okay.$$--and was way ahead of, of, of King's activity. But he then participated in King's activity when it did start. So it was mid-'50s [1950s].$$Was there any discussion about, now you may or may not know this. but was there any discussion about actually what happened that night, did somebody see anyone come on campus (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) No. I don't know that. All I know and as I--it's as vivid to me now as it was then, I can see the flames. But we really, I was not privy to any information of how it happened. I don't even recall that I heard rumor. I just know that it happened.$What was the biggest, I guess, obstacle to becoming CEO [sic. COO]?$$I was never sure. At my twenty-fifth year wedding anniversary when people from Penn [University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] came to celebrate with us, Claire [M.] Fagin, who was then the dean of school of nursing, said that I had a triple whammy that I overcame to run HUP, and that was I was black, female and a nurse. And all of those would say that I shouldn't be where I was. But--and I've always remembered that. So I was never sure. I can tell you that in many instances in which I had responsibility for making decisions, I could never tell whether the decision was challenged because I was a woman or because I was black. I don't think it was ever challenged because I was a nurse, because there was a considerable amount of respect that I knew the business. But there was significant challenge to something that as we talk, I still can't tell you what it was. Whether it was because I was black or a woman, couldn't tell. But because I was certain of what I was doing for the outcome of patients and because the board of trustees at the University of Pennsylvania supported and gave me their full authority, I was never necessarily inclined to try to figure out what it was. I was focused on carrying out the responsibility that I accepted. And that might have caused me a great deal of difficulty personally. I mean in, inside of my person. But I never failed the institution.$$Okay. Is there any one incident that pops out of--?$$Yeah one that pops out is that I had a habit of making rounds to patient floors because I wanted to see for myself what was going on. And on one such occasion, I happened to walk in a unit and I heard a loud voice and one other voice, not so loud, saying, "I'm sorry I didn't do that." And I walked in and it was the chair, a male white guy from Kentucky, yelling at a black woman, who was a nursing assistant. And he was reasonably loud. And I walked over to him and I said, "I would like you to lower your voice." And he said, "You can't tell me what to do." I said, "But I can fire you. Would you like to step into the utility room," and he did. And I said, "I'm [HistoryMaker] Delores Brisbon." And he said, "I didn't know who you were." I said, "But you do now and that kind of behavior, regardless of what the woman did if she did anything, is unacceptable. So you have to stop it." And because I was not as mature then as I am now, I said to him, "You've probably haven't ever dealt with a black woman anyplace in your life other than in your kitchen. I don't do my own kitchen and I don't permit that kind of behavior in my hospital." He is one of the closest people, he sends me Christmas cards and pictures and oranges every year. He is no longer working. But that probably, the tone that I was able to maintain on my--in my voice and my ability to control my anger, I think was probably one of the most outstanding experiences in my mind. There were many such occasions, but nothing as striking as that. And I had to call one other physician, I probably had more problems with physicians then I did anybody else, who really was not doing his administrative responsibility at Penn [Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. And I called him on it. And he said I didn't have the authority to do anything about that and he went to see the dean. And he said, "Yes she does, as long as you're in administration she can do whatever she wants." He later retired from Penn, went to another university and most recently came back to interview me. And his question was, "Are you still as tough as you were, wear silk dresses and smile, because you are understated but you're like steel." I took from that comment that he still hadn't understood the issue. So those are two kind of lasting impressions. I still don't know whether that was because I was a woman, on either occasion, or I was black. It--they are so cloudy I can't--I couldn't articulate it, but I do know that I was challenged.$$Do you ever think it's probably both or (laughter) at the same time?$$Yeah, yeah. I think so. But I really have to tell you, it didn't bother me a whole lot about what it was, I just felt that I had accepted a responsibility to do a job, I was well paid to do it, and I had to do what I needed to do to carry out that responsibility so I could live at peace with myself. Other people's issues don't bother me a whole lot. My issues are what I examine and try to resolve.

Read more about Delores Brisbon

Dr. James Gavin, III

Researcher and medical school president Dr. James R. Gavin III was born on November 23, 1945, in Mobile, Alabama. Gavin attended Livingstone College, graduating magna cum laude in 1966. From there he attended Emory University in Atlanta, earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1970 and earned his M.D. from Duke University in 1975.

Gavin's impressive career in the healthcare industry began in 1971, when he went to work as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, a position he held until 1973. Today, he still serves as a reserve officer. After earning his M.D., Gavin worked as a pathologist at Duke University Hospital. The Washington University School of Medicine hired Gavin in 1979, where he served as an associate professor of medicine until 1986. After Washington University, Gavin went to the University of Oklahoma, where he worked on diabetes research. In 1991, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) hired Gavin as its senior scientific officer, and in 2000, he was promoted to the director of HHMI-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program. Morehouse College School of Medicine named Gavin its president in 2002.

Gavin is an active member of numerous organizations, having served as president of the American Diabetes Association and on the editorial board of The American Journal of Physiology. He is a recipient of the Emory University Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the Banting Medal for Distinguished Service from the American Diabetes Association and the Internist of the Year from the National Medical Association. He currently serves on the board of directors of Baxter International and is outspoken in his support of affirmative action. Gavin and his wife of thirty-two years, Annie, have two sons.

Accession Number

A2003.102

Sex

Male

Interview Date

5/8/2003 |and| 8/15/2003 |and| 8/11/2003

Last Name

Gavin

Maker Category

EducationMakers

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Medical School President

Chief Executive Officer

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

Schools

W H Council Traditional School

Central High School

Dunbar Creative Performing Arts

Livingstone College

Emory University

Duke University School of Medicine

First Name

James

Birth City, State, Country

Mobile

HM ID

GAV01

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Alabama

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2003.102.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/88709

Favorite Vacation Destination

Paris, France

Favorite Quote

We Are A Small Medical School With Outrageous Ambition.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Birth Date

11/23/1945

Birth Place Term

Mobile

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Fried Chicken

Short Description

Medical school president, chief executive officer, and healthcare executive Dr. James Gavin, III (1945 - ) leads the Morehouse University Medical School. Gavin served as president of the American Diabetes Association and on the editorial board of The American Journal of Physiology.

Employment

United States Public Health Service

Duke University Hospital

Washington University in St. Louis

University of Oklahoma

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

Morehouse College School of Medicine

Favorite Color

Blue

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/88729

Timing Pairs

0,0:7137,77:7599,84:13913,198:14221,203:14837,209:15915,224:17301,249:27531,308:29475,330:32958,363:34821,391:47802,558:48306,566:49458,583:55002,670:55506,678:57234,704:57666,711:59466,739:60978,755:61338,761:64794,821:65586,834:71320,859:76945,949:77620,959:78070,966:78745,977:80395,998:80695,1003:81520,1017:82270,1029:83845,1043:84370,1051:90078,1093:94588,1149:97130,1182:98360,1201:99098,1211:99672,1220:100082,1226:102296,1246:105904,1272:111074,1295:111592,1304:112036,1312:113220,1325:113590,1331:114996,1352:115366,1358:116328,1371:123358,1483:123654,1488:124690,1504:126466,1538:143131,1698:143536,1704:148394,1744:150088,1782:156049,1841:161520,1905:185876,2196:203150,2388:203710,2396:208350,2454:210430,2478:215401,2492:215669,2497:215937,2502:216406,2511:217143,2523:217813,2534:218550,2544:218818,2549:219153,2555:220426,2573:222704,2613:223441,2626:224044,2638:224446,2645:230176,2687:231078,2699:247880,2918$0,0:20206,272:20586,278:21422,291:27274,370:33758,412:34128,418:36052,455:36422,461:36866,468:47670,648:48484,660:53107,687:55153,713:56269,726:56641,731:64630,783:84480,1108:90255,1204:96156,1226:96480,1231:96966,1239:99558,1283:108387,1440:108873,1447:122200,1535:137540,1684:138260,1695:140100,1724:151442,1856:153458,1889:161450,1959

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. James Gavin's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. James Gavin describes his great grandfather, Seborn Gavin

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. James Gavin describes his paternal grandmother, Maggie Gavin

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his father, James Gavin, Jr.

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. James Gavin talks about racial discrimination and desegregation in Mobile, Alabama

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. James Gavin continues to talk about his father, James Gavin, Jr.

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. James Gavin describes his maternal grandmother, Nona Smoke

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. James Gavin describes his mother, Bessie Smoke Gavin

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. James Gavin talks about how his parents met and his siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. James Gavin describes the sights, sounds, and smells of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, pt.1

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. James Gavin describes the sights, sounds, and smells of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, pt.2

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin describes his childhood personality

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. James Gavin describes his childhood personality and his father's high expectations

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. James Gavin describes his teachers at W. H. Council Traditional School in Mobile, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. James Gavin remembers his childhood misadventures

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. James Gavin describes his activities at Central High School in Mobile, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. James Gavin describes Mr. White and Mr. Thomas, two influential teachers at Central High School in Mobile, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. James Gavin describes his social life in high school

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his experience at Big Zion A.M.E. Church in Mobile, Alabama and his decision to become a minister

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. James Gavin describes his decision to attend Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin describes his experience at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. James Gavin shares about his graduate school experience at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. James Gavin describes co-founding a chapter of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) at Emory University in 1968

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. James Gavin remembers the impact of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. James Gavin talks about H. Rap Brown

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. James Gavin describes his decision to attend Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. James Gavin describes how he became a leading expert in the field of diabetes

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Dr. James Gavin talks about the early years of his medical career

Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his work with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Tape: 3 Story: 12 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his work at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. James Gavin describes his tenure at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his philosophy of management

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Second slating of Dr. James Gavin's interview

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin recalls the scientific discoveries he oversaw as a senior administrator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dr. James Gavin describes the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dr. James Gavin describes increasing opportunities for black medical students

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dr. James Gavin talks about the distortion of affirmative action the United States

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dr. James Gavin talks about the future of affirmative action

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dr. James Gavin talks about his appointment as the president of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dr. James Gavin explains why Morehouse School of Medicine does not benefit from contributions to Morehouse College

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dr. James Gavin talks about the challenges of being a president and his management style

Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Dr. James Gavin talks about the need for fiscal stability in predominantly black medical schools

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Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dr. James Gavin describes health concerns in the African American community

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dr. James Gavin describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dr. James Gavin talks about how he would like to be remembered

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dr. James Gavin's personal photographs

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Dr. James Gavin describes his great grandfather, Seborn Gavin

Dr. James Gavin shares about his graduate school experience at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

Transcript

Okay. Let me ask you about your family history. How far can you trace your family back?$$Well actually I can trace my family back to the former slave who was considered to be the patriarch of the East Coast Gavin clan and that was a fellow by the name of Seborn. That's S-E-B-O-R-N, Seborn Gavin, who was actually a slave in a plantation in Macon County, in a little town called Noxubee, Mississippi. My cousin, who is a--$$Can you spell that town for us?$$N-O-X-U-B-I-E [sic, N-O-X-U-B-E-E], I believe is the way it's spelled. I have a cousin who is a retired psychiatrist who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, his name is Dr. James Baker. And Jim decided when he retired that he was going to do a little work on genealogy and so he looked into the Gavin family tree and he has been diligent in his pursuits and we actually now have an annual reunion. Every other year, the reunion goes back to Mississippi but in the off years, it's held in different cities around the country. And so for that reason we can actually go back for some several generations to Seborn's time. Seborn was called the "Black Mayor of Noxubee" because when he was finally freed, he was one of the people who used to negotiate with the local white people to get things done for the local black community and he would do this in exchange for being able to convince the black people to do things that the white people wanted done. And so he would always win a trade-off and he was, in fact, credited with negotiating the first brick schoolhouse for black children in that part of the country. So there's a lot of lore associated with that part of the Gavin genealogy.$$Is Noxubee, Mississippi in Macon County?$$In Macon County.$$In Mississippi.$$Yeah.$$Now is that a--near the Gulf or is it--$$No, it's up in the Delta.$$Okay, all right. Now are there any stories from the 19th Century that are passed down through your family? Now, when did your--did Seborn Gavin live?$$Seborn lived in the late 1800s. He was in the 1860s and in that part of time.$$So during the reconstruction?$$Yes, he was a Reconstruction Era, freed slave.$$Okay, well that was a good story about the schoolhouse but are there any other stories about the slavery period itself or any stories that are passed down, you know throughout--$$There weren't many stories of that time that were passed down with the exception of sort of general descriptions of how--how cagey and how wily Seborn was in terms of his ability to negotiate and come away from the negotiating table with something that could benefit the black community. He was a strong believer in education so most of the things that he fought for had to do with winning educational opportunities for the local black populace although clearly they were still very much in farming types of activities.$$And he was a great grandfather on your--on which side?$$On my father's side.$$On your father's side.$Okay, all right. So, well, you went on to graduate school, right?$$Yes, I left Livingstone and came here to Atlanta [Georgia], to Emory [University]. A very different kind of experience. In 1966, the height of the civil rights struggle, Emory was not a place ready for black students, in general. It was trying to make a move in that direction but it was--it was an uneasy fit, at best. As one of the first black students admitted to the Division of Basic Health Sciences, especially for a Ph.D. program, I had some--some pretty testy experiences at Emory, including a professor who did not believe that I wrote a paper that I submitted for a course once because the quality of the writing was too good. He said this is high quality stuff. Who wrote this? And, of course, at that time I was not the man you see before you now. I was a dashiki wearing, Afro wearing, militant, well not militant, but activist. I founded the Black Student Alliance at Emory. I was a co-founder with another person and I was--I was a pretty outspoken guy. So that was not a good encounter for me. In fact, I didn't think I was going to make it through Emory. The good side of it was that there some supportive people there and with that kind of support, it was possible to get through and having the West Side of Atlanta, the AU [Atlanta University] Center, and the church, I was going to an A.M.E. Zion church here in Atlanta, all of those were places that served as a kind of a safe haven--safe haven, sort of a harbor of respite and that allowed me to get through. Then later, my girlfriend [Ann Gavin], who by then was out of college and came here to work, she moved to Atlanta and it worked out just fine. I'm happy to say that over the years Emory has changed a lot. I've really developed a far different relationship with Emory and I actually can look back on those bitter days with a little bit more sanguinity. Very interesting times though. Exciting.

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