American Public Health Association

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin

Healthcare executive Georges C. Benjamin was born on September 28, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois to Tessie and George Benjamin. After graduating from Lindblom Technical High School in 1970, Benjamin received his B.S. degree in biology from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1973. He went on to receive his M.D. degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1978, and complete his internal medicine residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in 1981.

In 1981, Benjamin joined Madigan Army Medical Center as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic in the department of emergency medicine; and, in 1983, he was reassigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center as chief of emergency medicine. From 1987 to 1990, Benjamin served as chair of the department of community health and ambulatory care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. From 1990 to 1991, he served as acting commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Health; and, in this role, he also served as interim director of the District of Columbia Fire Department’s Emergency Ambulance Bureau. From 1991 to 1994 he practiced emergency medicine and worked as a health policy consultant. He returned to the Emergency Ambulance Bureau from 1994 to 1995, serving again as interim director. In 1995, he was appointed deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and, four years later, he was promoted to secretary of the department. In 2002, Benjamin stepped down as secretary to join the American Public Health Association (APHA) as executive director. In this position, he also served as publisher of the nonprofit's monthly publication, The Nation's Health, the association's official newspaper, and the American Journal of Public Health. Benjamin authored more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters, as well as the book The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History, a history of health care reform shown through political cartoons.

In 2001, Benjamin served as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health. In 2016, former President Obama appointed Benjamin to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. He was a Master of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians, an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

In 1998, Benjamin received the Noble J. Swearingen Award for Excellence in Public Health Administrative Management from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. He was named one of the Top 25 Minority Executives in Health Care by Modern Healthcare Magazine in 2008, 2014, and 2016. In 2017, Benjamin received the Hidden Figures of Public Health Award from Black Caucus of Health Workers of the APHA and the Meritorious Achievement Award from the National Medical Association. He also received an honorary Doctor of Science from Meharry Medical School.

Benjamin and his wife, Yvette Benjamin, have two daughters: Stephanie and Kali.

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 24, 2019.

Accession Number

A2019.104

Sex

Male

Interview Date

9/24/2019

Last Name

Benjamin

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Curtis

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

American College of Physicians

National Academy of Medicine

Association of State And Territorial Health Officials

National Academy of Public Administration

American College of Emergency Physicians

Royal Society of Public Health

Research!America

Reagan-Udall Foundation

Truth Initiative

United States Department of Health and Human Services

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation

American Red Cross

Morehouse College School of Medicine

American Public Health Association

Center for Disease Control

National Medical Association

State of Maryland

Hospital for Sick Children

American Cancer Society

ecoAmerica

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

U.S. Federal Leadership in Health & Medicine

University of Maryland Medical System Corporation

Public Health Accreditation Board

Campaign for Public Health Foundation

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Howard University Public Health Program

Medicine & Public Health Initiative

Nemours Foundation

Southeast University

Consumers Union

Mother\'s Against Drunk Driving

Partnership for Prevention

Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics

World Federation of Public Health Associations

Physicians for a Violence Free Society

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Maryland Charity Champaign

Center for the Advancement of Health Professions Education, University of

Maryland Baltimore

Center for Law and the Public’s Health, Georgetown University/Johns Hopkins

University

State Children’s Environmental Health and Protection

Commission on the Crisis in Nursing

Women’s Health Promotion Council

Maryland Health Care Foundation

University of Maryland Baltimore County Institute for Racial and Ethnic Studies

Mid-Atlantic Health Leadership Institute

Maryland State Council on Cancer Control

Maryland State Advisory Council on Individuals with Disabilities

Medico Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia

D.C. Commission of Public Health Disability and Injury Prevention Program

Whitman Walker Clinic Inc.

District of Columbia Emergency Medical Services Committee

District of Columbia State Health Coordinating Council

District of Columbia Board of Medicine

Gramercy Development Corporation

Schools

Illinois Institute of Technology

University of Illinois College of Medicine

Perkins Bass Elementary School

Juliette G. Lowe Upper Grade Center

Lindblom Math & Science Academy High School

Brooke Army Medical Center

First Name

Georges

Birth City, State, Country

Chicago

HM ID

GEO05

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Illinois

Favorite Vacation Destination

Aruba

Favorite Quote

Never Start A War Until You Count Your Guns

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Birth Date

9/28/1952

Birth Place Term

Chicago

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Bacon and Eggs

Short Description

Healthcare executive Georges Benjamin (1952- ) served as executive director of the American Public Health Association. He previously served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Employment

American Public Health Association

Madigan Army Medical Center

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

District of Columbia General Hospital

District of Columbia Department of Health

District of Columbia Fire Department, Emergency Ambulance Bureau

Holy Cross Hospital

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Health Policy Consultant

Self Employed

United States Army Medical Corps

United States Army Medical Service Corps

City University of New York, School of Public Health at Hunter College

The George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services

Georgetown University

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

University of Maryland College of Medicine

Howard University

National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

American Heart Association

American College of Surgeons

Favorite Color

Blue

Read more about Dr. Georges C. Benjamin

Margaret Jordan

Healthcare executive Margaret H. Jordan was born on January 1, 1943 in Washington, D.C. to Ellen Hayes and Jerome Frederick Hayes. She attended Stevens Elementary School and Immaculate Conception Academy. In 1964, Jordan became Georgetown University’s first African American nursing school graduate upon receiving her B.S. degree in nursing. She went on to receive her M.P.H degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health in 1972.

In 1964, Jordan served as a nurse at the Community Hospital of San Bernardino. In 1971, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service, in San Francisco serving as branch chief and later as deputy director of the division of resources development. From 1979 to 1981, Jordan served as an associate director at San Francisco General Hospital, before joining Kaiser Foundation Plan, Oakland, CA as licensing and accreditation coordinator. In 1986, she was promoted to vice president and regional manager of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas. She was recruited by Southern California Edison in 1992, to serve as vice president of health care and occupational services. In 1995, Jordan joined Dallas Medical Resource as president and chief executive officer serving intermittently until 2020. She served as president and chief executive officer of Margaret Jordan Group LLC from 1997 to 2003, and executive vice president of corporate affairs of Texas Health Resources from 2000 to 2006.

Jordan is a founding director of the National Black Nurses Association in 1971. She serves on the boards of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, and James Madison’s Montpelier Foundation. Jordan is a former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the American Public Health Association, the American Hospital Association, the Public Health Institute, the Dallas Museum of Art and several public companies.

In 1991, Jordan was named one of Black Enterprise’s 21 Women of Power and Influence in Corporate America. She received the Community Service Award from the Dallas Historical Society in 2012, and the Distinguished Health Service Award from Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council in 2016. Jordan also received the Dallas County Medical Society’s Robert Heath Award, the Alumni of the Year Award from the University of California, School of Public Berkeley and the Distinguished Alumnus Georgetown University, School of Nursing. In 2019, she was named one of University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health’s seventy-five most influential public health alumni in its seventy-five-year history.

Margaret Jordan was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 20, 2019.

Accession Number

A2019.083

Sex

Female

Interview Date

8/20/2019

Last Name

Jordan

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Divorced

Occupation

Healthcare Executive

Organizations

National Black Nurses Association, Inc.

American Public Health Association

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

AT&T Performing Arts Center

James Madison\'s Montpelier Foundation

American Journal of Public Health

Texas Hospital Association

Metropolitan United Way

American Health Association

Schools

Stevens Elementary School

Immaculate Conception Academy

Georgetown University

University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health

First Name

Margaret

Birth City, State, Country

Washington

HM ID

JOR08

Favorite Season

Christmas

State

District of Columbia

Favorite Vacation Destination

Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Massachusetts

Birth Date

1/1/1943

Birth Place Term

Washington D.C.

Speakers Bureau Region City

Martha's Vineyard

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Okra

Short Description

Healthcare executive Margaret Jordan (1943- ) served as vice president and regional manager of the Dallas-Fort Worth region of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas before joining Dallas Medical Resource as president and chief executive officer.

Employment

Community Hospital of San Bernardino

U.S. Public Health Service

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

Kaiser Foundation Plan, Inc.

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas

Southern California Edison

Dallas Medical Resource

Margaret Jordan Group LLC

Texas Health Resources

Favorite Color

Red

Read more about Margaret Jordan

Dr. Patricia Bath

Medical scientist Patricia E. Bath was born on November 4, 1942 in Harlem, New York. Bath’s father, Rupert, was a Trinidadian immigrant and the first black motorman in the New York City subway system; her mother, Gladys, was a descendant of African slaves and Cherokee Native Americans and worked as a housewife and domestic. Bath attended Julia Ward Howe Junior High School and Charles Evans Hughes High School. In 1959, Bath received a grant from the National Science Foundation to attend the Summer Institute in Biomedical Science at Yeshiva University in New York, where she worked on a project studying the relationship between caner, nutrition, and stress. Bath went on to graduate from Hunter College in New York City with her B.S. degree in chemistry in 1964. She then attended Howard University Medical School. Bath graduated with honors in 1968 with her M.D. degree and also won the Edwin J. Watson Prize for Outstanding Student in Ophthalmology.

From 1970 until 1973, Bath was the first African American resident in ophthalmology at new York University’s School of Medicine. During this time, she married and gave birth to a daughter, Eraka, in 1972. In 1973, Bath worked as an assistant surgeon at Sydenham Hospital, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital, and Metropolitan Surgical Hospital, all in New York City. In 1974, she completed a fellowship in corneal and keratoprosthesis surgery. Then, Bath moved to Los Angeles, California where she became the first African American woman surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center. She was also appointed assistant professor at the Charles R. Drew University. In 1975, Bath became the first woman faculty member of the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute.

In 1981, Bath conceived of her invention, the Laserphaco Probe. She traveled to Berlin University in Germany to learn more about laser technology, and over the course of the next five years, she developed and tested a model for a laser instrument that could be tested to remove cataracts. Bath received a patent for her invention on May 17, 1988, and became the first African American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention. She continued to work at UCLA and Drew University during the development of her laser cataract removal instrument, and, in 1983, she developed and chaired an ophthalmology residency training program. From 1983 to 1986, Bath was the first woman chair and first female program director of a postgraduate training program in the United States. In 1993, Bath retired from the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was inducted into the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame in 2001.

Patricia E. Bath was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 29, 2012.

Bath passed away on May 30, 2019.

Accession Number

A2012.243

Sex

Female

Archival Photo 1

Interview Date

11/29/2012

Last Name

Bath

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Occupation

Physician

Organizations

American Medical Association

National Medical Association (NMA)

American Society of Contemporary Ophthalmologists

American Public Health Association

International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

American College of Surgeons

White House Counsel

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

Schools

Charles Evans Hughes High School

Hunter College

Howard University College of Medicine

Julia Ward Howe Junior High School 81

P.S. 68

First Name

Patricia

Birth City, State, Country

New York

HM ID

BAT10

Favorite Season

Spring

State

New York

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2012.243.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/643466

Favorite Vacation Destination

Hawaii

Favorite Quote

Yes.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

California

Interview Description

A2012_243_EAD.pdf

A2012_243_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

11/4/1942

Birth Place Term

New York

Speakers Bureau Region City

Los Angeles

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Fruit

Death Date

5/30/2019

Short Description

Physician Dr. Patricia Bath (1942 - ) was a professor of ophthalmology at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California. She invented the laserphaco probe, a device used in cataract surgery.

Employment

Yeshiva University

Harlem Hospital

Columbia University

New York University

University of California, Los Angeles

Charles R. Drew University

American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness

Favorite Color

Purple

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/643471

Timing Pairs

0,0:16934,284:17766,294:18494,302:20158,317:21198,330:29880,435:32782,468:35326,548:36174,557:36810,564:38872,587:41933,598:42430,606:43637,628:46690,702:47471,719:49601,773:50524,787:55730,829:63638,895:64198,901:66720,924:67700,933:71950,965:72808,977:80730,1077:81000,1084:81270,1090:81594,1098:81972,1106:86132,1118:92096,1195:93104,1208:94112,1231:102216,1283:102508,1288:105139,1312:109154,1350:111130,1359:115322,1405:116202,1416:117258,1429:117610,1434:119892,1442:120260,1447:120628,1452:121364,1462:121824,1471:122468,1480:123204,1489:126258,1529:126634,1534:128608,1564:129736,1578:130112,1583:134036,1611:135232,1627:139004,1690:139648,1699:140200,1706:143106,1725:144762,1750:145698,1765:146130,1772:153020,1837:153488,1842:157723,1873:158164,1881:158920,1894:159865,1912:173180,2074:177210,2135:179780,2144:180338,2152:180710,2157:181175,2162:183872,2189:185146,2206:187638,2226:188534,2241:189622,2315:190006,2323:190390,2331:190902,2341:191542,2355:192310,2374:192630,2380:196040,2393:200509,2448:201054,2454:202144,2468:210340,2530:213288,2546:216564,2594:216900,2599:219840,2646:231768,2884:240381,3085:241074,3093:245806,3135:246786,3150:249916,3180:250408,3187:250818,3193:251228,3199:271910,3593:272325,3613:274732,3651:275313,3660:276724,3677:277471,3692:278135,3701:278716,3709:279795,3732:280127,3740:284310,3771:285126,3784:286443,3808:288840,3841$0,0:5228,197:6158,209:6530,214:16466,296:18482,321:21170,360:21554,365:25750,386:26956,399:31620,421:32586,434:33069,442:33690,453:38687,487:45158,562:47246,635:54610,697:55650,713:59090,781:59490,787:60770,829:61090,834:66834,856:67302,863:67770,870:68394,880:83579,1087:83911,1092:87646,1267:90538,1278:92630,1289:99064,1424:100168,1439:107264,1535:110446,1602:111186,1616:111630,1682:116783,1734:117148,1740:123221,1809:124376,1830:124838,1838:125223,1844:126378,1861:128303,2011:131640,2132:131928,2137:132216,2142:133296,2156:133656,2162:139976,2207:140340,2212:151644,2367:152009,2373:152447,2380:153323,2393:153615,2398:154491,2409:156827,2440:157119,2445:167345,2501:167855,2508:168960,2523:169555,2531:171255,2558:172955,2581:173380,2587:175290,2595

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Patricia Bath's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her mother's move to New York City

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her paternal great-great-grandfather, Jonas Mohammed Bath

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her father's career

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes how her parents met

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her father's experiences as a merchant seaman

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her likeness to her parents

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her brothers

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her earliest childhood memories

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her home life

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers the Harlem community in New York City

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her childhood pastimes

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her early education, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls her aspiration to become a doctor

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her early education, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls the era of school desegregation

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her high school science fair experiment

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers Charles Evans Hughes High School in New York City

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her early scientific achievements

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls her scholarship to Hunter College in New York City

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls her activities at Hunter College

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers the social organizations at Hunter College

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls her admission to the Howard University College of Medicine

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her mentors at the Howard University College of Medicine

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her early interest in ophthalmology

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes the medical licensing process

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls her internship at New York City's Harlem Hospital

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her role in the Poor People's Campaign

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers the birth of her daughter

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her decision to become a single parent

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls joining the faculty of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School in Los Angeles, California

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her fellowship in keratoprosthesis

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes the founding of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls the start of her medical career in Los Angeles, California

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes the development of community ophthalmology

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her study of blindness in the African American community

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers inventing the laserphaco probe, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers inventing the laserphaco probe, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about the advancements in ophthalmological laser surgery

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath recalls becoming the chief of ophthalmology at the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes the procedure for cataract surgery

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers her decision to retire

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her artistic interests

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her involvement in the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her involvement in the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Dr. Patricia Bath reflects upon her life

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dr. Patricia Bath reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dr. Patricia Bath remembers the support of her parents

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dr. Patricia Bath talks about her daughter

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Dr. Patricia Bath describes how she would like to be remembered

DASession

1$1

DATape

4$5

DAStory

6$4

DATitle

Dr. Patricia Bath describes her role in the Poor People's Campaign

Dr. Patricia Bath describes the founding of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School

Transcript

I neglected to ask you about 1968 at, at Howard [Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.]. Now were you on, you were, I guess, on the verge of graduation when Dr. King [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] was killed, right?$$Yes, yes, yeah, that, that, you know, I wanted to mention about Dr. King earlier, and somehow it escaped me, but when I pledged AKA [Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority] as an undergraduate at Hunter College [New York, New York], my chapter [Lambda Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.] nominated me for a national office which I did win, and I became the highest ranking undergraduate officer on the board of directors, second (unclear) basileus is what they called it and in Philadelphia [Pennsylvania], when King, Martin Luther King, Jr. was speaking at the boule, I had the honor of introducing him to the boule. And so I met Dr. King and it was a brief interaction, you know, moments, minutes, but he was the type of charismatic person that could change (laughter) your whole perspective and so it had a great effect on me. And when I later went to medical school, and when he was killed, it, it did have a big effect on me and I participated in Resurrection City. I organized the medical students so we could provide healthcare, to some extent, during the Poor People's Campaign. You know, we had, that was really, it turned out to be a linchpin in the success of Resurrection City because they were trying to close it down for whatever reason and they didn't want to close it down because they didn't want poor people at the mall that would have not been an American way of closing it down, but, so they thought they could close it down based on health reasons, you know, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and that's where the medical students came in and my role, with the role of some others, but we established the medical coordinating committee for the Resurrection City. Dr. Mazique, Ed Mazique [Edward C. Mazique], I recall, and Reverend Fauntroy [HistoryMaker Reverend Walter Fauntroy], they were the ones--and Joseph Rines [ph.] from Seventh-day Adventist, they were the ones who came up with this concept and, you know, the medical students supported it and so every time the Department of Health [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] would come up with an excuse to close it, you know, we'd put our heads together and find a way to mitigate, you know, whether it was clean water testing, food preparation, number of infections, kids who needed shots, you know, it was my first field, battlefield experience.$$Okay, now this happened, I guess the march, the Poor People's Campaign was a dream of Dr. King's and took place after his--$$Death.$$--assassination, and--$$Yes, yes, '68 [1968].$$--after the riots and all those--$$Yeah.$$--were over, basically--$$Sixty-eight [1968].$$Yeah, '68 [1968]--$$Um-hm, the year I graduated [from Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.].$$Yeah, so was that in, did that take place in June, May or June of that year?$$Well, the Poor People's Campaign was for several months--$$Yeah.$$--but, you know, and, of course, when I graduated in May, I stayed, I stayed there until July, had to start my internship [at Harlem Hospital; Harlem Medical Center, New York, New York].$$Okay.$$So I left.$$So, yeah, my recollection is that it, yeah, it started maybe a month or two after Dr. King was assassinated then, with the march, then occupation of the Mall [National Mall, Washington, D.C.]--$$Yes.$$--you know, so, okay so you there until Ju--$$It was great to be a part of that.$$Okay.$$And I have an article on that too. That's, that was published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, there's a shot of myself and Dr. Mazique and the coordinating committee there and our story, what we were doing.$$Okay.$Now, once again, Charles R. Drew [Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School; Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine, Los Angeles, California], now, was Charles Drew conceived of as a hospital to give opportunities for African American and maybe even minority medical students?$$Now keep in mind, I'm in New York [New York] and they, they founded this institution before I arrived. My understanding is that Charles Drew medical school was founded as a result of the McCone Commission. There were riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] and--there were riots in Los Angeles [California] and a commission was set up. One of the findings of the commission was that the area of Watts [Los Angeles, California] and South Central [Los Angeles, California] was not only impoverished, but the people lacked access to medical care. So, the McCone Commission determined that one of the positive things that they could do was to promote the establishment of healthcare. So two things happened. One, they built Martin Luther King Hospital [Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center; Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center, Los Angeles, California], which was the county; and secondly, the Drew medical school was created to nurture the hospital, in the same way that Columbia [Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York] would nurture Harlem Hospital [Harlem Medical Center, New York, New York]. The problem though was that Drew had not existed as an established medical school. It's not as if it was a transplant of Howard [Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.], which couldn't be done. So in order to empower the newly established Drew medical school, the leadership at Drew decided that they would affiliate half of their departments with UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine; David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California] and half of the departments with USC [University of Southern California School of Medicine; Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California]. They felt that that way Drew could maintain autonomy. Had they only affiliated with UCLA, then they would, they felt they would lose autonomy or the same would happen if they had only affiliated with USC. But they felt that by having two major strong institutions that they could maintain autonomy and grow and then eventually, if decided, cut ties with both. So, it was mainly established to provide service to the underserved community of Watts and South Central.

Read more about Dr. Patricia Bath

Dr. Helene Gayle

Epidemiologist and public health administrator Dr. Helene D. Gayle was born on August 16, 1955, in Buffalo, New York. The daughter of social worker Marietta Spiller Dabney Gayle and businessman Jacob Astor Gayle, she attended Lancaster, New York’s Court Street Elementary School and Lancaster Middle School. Moving back to Buffalo, Gayle graduated with honors from Woodlawn Junior High School and then from Bennett High School in 1972. Briefly attending Baldwin-Wallace College, she graduated from Barnard College in New York City with her B.S. degree in psychology. Deciding to pursue medicine, Gayle earned her M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as president of the Student National Medical Association. Gayle went on to earn her Masters of Public Health degree from John Hopkins University. She did her pediatric internship and residency at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Gayle was selected to enter the epidemiology training program at Atlanta’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 1984. By 2001, she had risen to director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention of the CDC. Throughout, Gayle concentrated on the effects of AIDS on children, adolescents and families. In the early 1990s, she began to investigate the global ramifications of the disease and authored numerous reports on the real risk factors involved with AIDS. In so doing, she became one of the foremost experts on the subject, appearing on ABC’s Nightline and other news and information programs. Gayle also served as a medical researcher in the AIDS Division of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Gayle warned about substance abuse and advocated female condoms and vaginal virucides. In 2001, Gayle joined the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation as director of the HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program and was responsible for administering its $300 million dollar budget. At the same time, she was named Assistant Surgeon General and Rear Admiral in the United States Public Health Service. In 2006, Gayle was chosen as the new president and CEO of CARE, the international poverty fighting organization.

Gayle is the recipient of many honors, including: the U.S. Public Health Service achievement medal, in 1989; the National Medical Association Scroll of Merit Award, 2002; Barnard College, Columbia University, Barnard Woman of Achievement, 2001 and the Women of Color, Health Science and Technology Awards, Medical Leadership in Industry Award in 2002. Gayle sits on many community boards. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Accession Number

A2006.118

Sex

Female

Interview Date

10/14/2006

Last Name

Gayle

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Epidemiologist

Organizations

Student National Medical Association

Operation Crossroads Africa, Incorporated

The Rockefeller Foundation

ONE

Colgate-Palmolive Company

Friends of the Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Council on Foreign Relations

American Public Health Association

President Obama\'s Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

President Obama\'s Commission on White House Fellowships

New America Foundation

Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative Advisory Board

Coca Cola Company

Schools

Bennett High School

Court Street Elementary School

Lancaster Middle School

Johns Hopkins University

University of Pennsylvania

Barnard College

Speakers Bureau

Yes

Speakers Bureau Availability

Evenings, Weekends

First Name

Helene

Birth City, State, Country

Buffalo

HM ID

GAY01

Speakers Bureau Preferred Audience

Any

Speakers Bureau Honorarium

Favorite Season

Spring

Speaker Bureau Notes

Preferred Audience: Any

State

New York

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2006.118.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/365226

Favorite Vacation Destination

Caribbean

Favorite Quote

Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Interview Description

A2006_118_EAD.pdf

A2006_118_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

8/16/1955

Birth Place Term

Buffalo

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Salmon

Short Description

Epidemiologist Dr. Helene Gayle (1955 - ) was president and CEO of CARE, the international poverty fighting organization. She served as director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention of the Center for Disease Control; the director of the HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and the Assistant Surgeon General and Rear Admiral in the United States Public Health Service.

Employment

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

United States Public Health Services

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

CARE

Children's Hospital National Medical Center

McKinsey Social Initiative

The Chicago Community Trust

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/365230

Timing Pairs

0,0:7482,142:14196,192:17238,233:18018,244:18642,275:20670,315:22932,353:27836,386:28100,391:28364,399:28826,407:29618,528:29882,533:30410,542:30740,548:31136,555:31994,581:32456,589:33908,620:38680,650:39050,656:39420,663:39716,668:41615,682:44952,779:45662,794:46230,803:47011,815:49993,863:50561,872:50845,877:52194,907:53330,923:53685,929:54892,949:55957,968:56454,976:57306,993:58300,1016:59436,1034:60004,1044:60785,1059:61282,1072:66550,1083:68022,1100:68666,1108:69034,1113:71610,1163:71978,1168:73174,1180:73634,1189:74186,1196:74738,1203:75474,1212:83070,1319:88450,1403:92344,1509:95578,1581:96172,1592:96568,1599:96964,1607:97822,1624:98416,1637:99670,1657:99934,1662:100792,1676:103036,1726:108174,1745:108540,1752:108906,1760:109699,1768:110126,1781:111102,1797:113452,1812:114044,1821:114636,1830:115450,1838:117374,1888:118928,1916:119298,1922:120408,1946:121000,1960:121444,1968:122036,1981:122480,1989:122924,1996:123442,2005:124700,2028:125218,2039:125588,2045:126180,2054:128622,2099:129140,2107:130842,2139:131212,2145:132174,2160:132470,2165:132914,2172:134838,2208:135800,2223:140699,2234:140991,2239:142232,2261:145444,2307:145882,2312:146320,2319:147269,2332:148218,2347:148583,2353:149970,2388:150408,2396:150919,2409:151576,2421:152233,2431:153620,2462:154277,2476:155080,2488:161160,2525:163338,2560:164130,2571:164823,2580:169074,2620:169378,2625:169682,2630:169986,2635:170290,2640:170746,2647:171050,2652:171962,2666:172418,2673:172722,2678:175990,2756:177510,2779:178650,2796:180626,2831:180930,2836:181538,2846:181842,2851:186873,2878:187275,2885:188146,2908:188481,2914:189218,2930:192532,2957:201814,3115:202382,3126:202666,3131:203234,3141:203518,3146:203802,3151:204512,3164:205222,3175:205719,3183:206784,3202:207636,3221:208062,3228:212126,3246:212874,3260:213146,3265:214234,3288:214846,3299:215118,3304:215662,3314:216478,3333:217158,3350:217770,3361:226460,3487:227370,3518:227760,3525:228150,3532:228865,3546:229450,3556:229905,3564:230620,3577:231335,3590:231790,3598:232310,3618:232635,3625:233480,3640:233805,3646:234065,3651:234845,3667:235430,3679:236145,3691:236665,3708:237185,3717:237445,3722:237705,3727:238290,3738:238940,3749:239915,3771:240305,3778:242905,3833:243295,3840:244335,3857:252880,3899:253636,3910:256694,3930:257286,3939:257804,3947:258100,3952:259136,3973:259580,3981:260764,4003:261430,4013:262970,4019$0,0:1200,22:1520,27:1920,34:3360,56:3760,62:4160,68:4800,113:9840,177:10160,182:10480,188:11920,210:12240,215:12560,220:13680,241:14720,262:15040,267:16000,285:17280,307:19040,343:19680,354:20000,359:21840,410:22480,423:22800,428:23280,435:23920,447:24240,452:25200,466:25600,473:26320,483:32947,504:33223,509:34465,537:34741,542:35017,547:36328,580:36742,587:37294,597:38605,619:40744,665:41296,675:45022,784:45436,791:46678,821:47161,829:48403,858:49231,873:50749,898:51370,908:51646,913:53233,956:54613,992:55786,1014:56821,1043:62680,1048:65991,1109:66607,1118:67223,1136:67762,1145:68070,1150:70149,1183:72536,1221:75462,1270:84856,1585:88321,1671:94766,1680:95630,1694:97646,1797:99158,1830:99950,1844:100454,1852:100958,1861:105062,1941:105350,1946:105638,1951:106430,1970:106862,1977:113964,2030:114438,2037:120363,2142:120758,2150:121232,2159:121864,2169:122496,2180:124524,2201:125867,2215:126657,2226:130054,2278:132424,2313:133056,2323:134478,2348:135031,2355:135505,2362:136295,2374:136690,2380:141000,2389:141325,2395:141650,2403:143080,2429:145095,2466:145745,2477:147240,2497:147760,2506:150035,2546:150815,2563:151270,2571:151985,2583:152375,2590:152960,2601:153610,2612:157132,2631:157924,2643:158284,2649:159436,2671:159796,2677:160084,2682:160732,2693:161812,2706:162532,2716:163180,2726:163972,2739:166708,2785:167284,2794:168436,2819:169300,2839:169588,2844:170164,2854:172396,2895:174340,2927:175276,2947:183540,2988:184965,3015:185715,3026:186315,3035:187590,3058:189540,3092:190140,3101:190515,3107:194865,3193:195540,3203:196215,3217:196515,3222:198165,3257:198840,3267:199815,3286:201390,3323:201840,3330:202290,3337:204090,3364:210641,3393:212032,3403:215102,3420:215572,3426:217640,3452:218298,3469:219238,3485:223680,3585

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Helene Gayle's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Helene Gayle lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her mother's education

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her parents' personalities

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes some of the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Helene Gayle remembers Court Street Elementary School in Lancaster, New York

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her childhood hobbies

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her parents' civil rights involvement

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls how she became interested in medicine

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her experience at Woodlawn Junior High School

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Helene Gayle remembers attending Bennett High School in Buffalo, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls the death of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Helene Gayle remembers being injured in a car accident as a child

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Helene Gayle remembers Bennett High School's Black Student Union

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her friendships in high school

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Helene Gayle remembers her decision to attend Barnard College

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her mentors at Barnard College in New York City

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls her decision to attend University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls studying public health at Johns Hopkins University

Tape: 2 Story: 13 - Dr. Helene Gayle explains her interest in public health

Tape: 2 Story: 14 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes the public health campaign against smallpox

Tape: 2 Story: 15 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her experience at Johns Hopkins University

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Center for Disease Control

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls initially being deterred from working with HIV

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her travels to Africa

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Helene Gayle recalls becoming director of the Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes the relationship of the African American community to public health

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes myths about HIV in the African American community

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Helene Gayle talks about the occurrence of HIV among African Americans

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes HIV policy under President George Walker Bush

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes advancements in HIV research

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Helene Gayle reflects upon her leadership of public health organizations

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Helene Gayle reflects upon the response to HIV in the United States

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Helene Gayle talks about the future of HIV treatment

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes the importance of philanthropy

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Helene Gayle talks about Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Helene Gayle describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Helene Gayle talks about her relationship with Africa

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Helene Gayle reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Dr. Helene Gayle reflects upon her legacy and how she would like to be remembered

DASession

1$1

DATape

2$3

DAStory

13$2

DATitle

Dr. Helene Gayle explains her interest in public health

Dr. Helene Gayle recalls initially being deterred from working with HIV

Transcript

Now at that time would you say you were keenly aware of some of the health disparities in the black community and what the causes were?$$In a general sense, you know, this is when I heard the smallpox talk when I was, my brother was graduating from college and I went to his college graduation that was my, I guess that was in my last year, or my third year, what was ended up being my last year of medical school [University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], and I'd been thinking about public health because I had this general notion of, of the fact that it kind of was an area where you could make a huge impact on, on populations, and then I heard this man [Donald A. Henderson] who had been the leader, one of the leaders of the smallpox eradication campaign and it kind of, for me, crystalized my thinking that this was a way that you could tangibly impact large numbers of peoples' lives, eradicate a disease like we did with smallpox or, you know, really change the course of something in a major way as opposed to doing one-by-one patient care where a lot of times what you're doing is putting band aids on for what are really larger systemic issues.$$Okay, so what I hear you saying and correct me if I'm wrong, is that somebody's got to organize a campaign to deal with disease, you know, to do a certain diseases. It's not enough just to treat 'em as an individual, as individuals coming in who are sick. It's better to, to try to hit with a organized hammer.$$Well, I think what you do in public health as opposed to taking care of individuals, you take care of populations, so the same things you do with individuals, you do with populations, so you look at, you know, you're able to look at what are the reasons why one population has more, is impacted more by hypertension, HIV [human immunodeficiency virus], tuberculosis, you know, low birth weight, or whatever the issue is, and look at what does it take to change that for populations. A lot of times that means changing policies. It may mean, you know, putting in systems that didn't exist. It may mean doing campaigns, but it's really looking at what are the reasons why populations of people are more likely to be hit by a disease or have a less good health in disease like infant mortality or death rates or birth rates, or whatever, and how do you look at what are the issues that influence that, and a lot of times those things aren't necessarily just the virus or the, you know, the infection, or the toxin, it has as much to do with how societies organize or don't organize to make sure that some people have access to the things that cause good health. I mean it could be as simple as the fact that we have bad grocery stores in poor neighborhoods so that obesity and poor nutrition is more likely in poor communities, and so I mean public health looks at all of those factors and not just, you know, X diseases caused by X germ.$$Okay, so for instance, coal miners keep getting black lungs because they're coal miners?$$Right, and so as opposed to being the person who looks at a coal miner and says that person has a particular disease state, let me give them the medicine, public health says these people are at risk because the conditions within the coal mines are making them sick. What do we do to change the conditions in the coal mine?$$Okay. And sometimes that's a struggle, isn't it? I mean in terms of trying to change--$$Change policies, and that's why I say public health really is the interface between medicine and politics and society because in order to make a difference for those coal miners, you may have to get legislation passed in [U.S.] Congress that will affect the conditions that they're, they're living under. So, you know, I think those, that's why for me public health is a, was always a real good blend for my interests because it does marry changing societal factors that cause poor health as well as looking at what's the immediate cause.$Interestingly, at the time when I came, which was 1984, three years after HIV [human immunodeficiency virus] had first been described, I was, had a passing interest in HIV. At that time, pediatric HIV had not been very visible so it wasn't something that I had been involved in in my training, but I asked people about, you know, whether HIV would be a good thing to do my EIS [Epidemic Intelligence Service] years in and most people said, "Stay away from it, it's just a political disease and it's not that important and it's gonna be gone soon anyway," so I kind of, you know, didn't think too much about HIV at the time. I went ahead and did the nutrition and worked on issues of malnutrition in children.$$Let me stop you. What do they mean by political disease?$$Well, it was highly political. You know it was a disease that had a lot of, you know, because it was occurring in gay men and injection drug users, you know, it was very politicized. There were a lot of, you know, just politics involved and people said, you know, "Stay away from it 'cause you just get broiled--embroiled in a bunch of politics around, you know, gays and drug users." And, you know, issues of morality, and all the issues that are involved in, you know, working with marginalized populations that (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Well what was it, the sense then from the physicians that you were talking to that it was gonna stay in a small, I mean, it wasn't really, they thought it was gonna stay right there (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) Yeah, well that's what I said, I mean people that, people said, you know, "This is something that's gonna be gone." They compared it to like the Legionnaires' disease which CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia] had had been involved with, you know, big, an outbreak confined to a certain group of people, lot of visibility, lot of hype, and then it will be gone, and so go and deal with something that has longer term relevance. So, you know, for me it was, it was partly that, but it was also just, you know, again, since I had been in pediatrics where HIV had not yet really taken a hold, it wasn't as much in my consciousness at the time and so I focused on nutrition and looked at issues of low birth weight, malnutrition, did a lot of work in Africa as well as work here in the United States focusing on those issues. After that, I just, I really enjoyed my experience at the CDC and so took an additional year and preventive medicine residency, so it was another additional residency to get further training in public health and preventive medicine and I did that in our group that focused, the CDC group that focused on specifically issues of childhood mortality in Africa and I worked a lot on childhood, child survival issues, diarrhea and the things that are the main causes of children in African, diarrheal diseases, measles, malaria. I did a year doing a lot of work focused on that, and then just, and then those both the EIS and the preventive medicine program are short-term programs and so I had to make the decision after that: did I wanna stay at CDC and seek permanent employment, or did I wanna go and do something else? And by that time, it was clear that HIV was an important issue, and was, in fact, probably gonna be the defining public health issue of our day, and so I elected to interview the HIV group and started out as a staff epidemiologist in the HIV program. It was called the AIDS program then.$$So it was about 1987 (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Eighty-seven [1987], yeah, yeah.

Read more about Dr. Helene Gayle

Ella Mizzell Kelly

Ella Mizzell Kelly was born on March 17, 1939 in Columbia, North Carolina. Her father was a barber and her mother, a factory worker. During her early childhood, the family migrated to New York in search of better jobs. Shortly thereafter, her parents divorced and Kelly and her sister were raised by their mother. Identified as a gifted student during grade school, Kelly excelled academically. In 1955, she earned her high school diploma from Julia Richmond High School where she was active in the chorus, Latin Club and Student Government Association.

From 1955 until 1957, Kelly attended New York State Teachers College in Albany. She transferred to Howard University in 1957, where she earned her B.A. degree in history in 1960. During her senior year, she was selected to study abroad at Oxford in England.

From 1960 until 1968, Kelly taught history in the Washington, D.C. public school system, giving her students their first introduction to African American history. In 1963, Kelly earned her master’s degree in philosophy from Howard University. Between 1969 and 1977, Kelly worked for the Department of Education as a speechwriter and senior program officer. From 1983 until 1985, Kelly attended the University of California at Los Angeles. Leaving there, she worked until 1990 as a research assistant at UCLA and served on a task force examining the under-representation of African American students in California. From 1990 until 1994, Kelly worked as a teacher and administrator at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in the departments of family medicine and nursing education. In 1995, she earned her Ph.D. in social research methodology from UCLA. From 1994 until 1998, Kelly served as a consultant on women’s health issues for the California Public Institute and the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research. From 1998 until 2003, Kelly was a senior research scientist at UCLA’s Center for Community Health where she was responsible for developing initiatives to reduce health risks associated with HIV/AIDS and African American women.

In 2003, Kelly became the deputy director at Howard University College of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, where she focuses on the impact of violence and substance abuse on low-income families and children.

Accession Number

A2004.262

Sex

Female

Interview Date

12/14/2004

Last Name

Kelly

Maker Category

EducationMakers

Middle Name

Mizzell

Occupation

Academic Administrator

Organizations

Student Government (SUNY-Albany)

Student Government (High School)

American Public Health Association

American Educational Research Association

Liberal Arts Student Council

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Student Chapter

Phi Beta Kappa Society

Association of Pan African Doctoral Scholars

Schools

Julia Richman High School

P.S. 194 Countee Cullen School

Junior High School 136

State University of New York at Albany

University of Oxford

University of California, Los Angeles

Howard University

First Name

Ella

Birth City, State, Country

Columbia

HM ID

KEL01

Favorite Season

All Seasons

State

North Carolina

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2004.262.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/222654

Favorite Vacation Destination

Hawaii

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2004_262_EAD.pdf

A2004_262_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

3/17/1939

Birth Place Term

Columbia

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Favorite Food

All Food

Short Description

Academic administrator Ella Mizzell Kelly (1939 - ) served as a speechwriter and senior program officer for the U.S. Department of Education, and later worked as a teacher and administrator at the Charles Drew University of Medicine. She was also a senior research scientist at UCLA’s Center for Community Health, and later became the Deputy Director of Child Health at the Howard University College of Medicine.

Employment

Delete

Boys Clubs

Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Howard University’s College of Medicine

District of Columbia Public Schools

Department of Education

National Institute of Education

Dr. Ed Keller

Charles Drew University of Science and Medicine

Diane Littlefield and Connie Chan-Robinson

University of California, Los Angeles Neuro-Psychiatric Institute in the Center for Community Health

Favorite Color

Yellow

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/222664

Timing Pairs

0,0:10470,233:10850,239:11458,247:12142,268:12598,275:21511,410:26978,513:49833,822:51030,848:61125,994:62427,1010:65702,1021:66140,1028:68549,1069:70155,1098:80895,1253:81147,1258:81399,1263:81714,1270:82785,1293:84584,1318:84904,1324:85480,1334:86184,1347:86760,1359:87784,1414:89192,1442:89768,1453:90088,1459:94627,1484:95212,1490:102384,1518:103948,1550:105512,1575:110005,1627:110980,1635:111655,1645:114692,1670:116601,1711:117265,1721:129246,1934:130302,1955:130962,1966:131490,1976:132414,2001:134196,2037:139717,2100:140119,2108:142766,2130:143242,2139:143854,2151:147186,2233:161030,2399:161840,2408:162560,2418:170090,2513$0,0:8166,93:9174,105:11334,158:12126,171:14430,220:23010,313:24610,371:25090,378:26530,402:29490,435:30930,454:36389,477:36911,497:41704,551:42408,566:42856,574:44712,605:45224,615:46248,634:48872,695:49128,700:55275,760:55575,765:56475,781:56850,787:57825,801:58350,809:60150,842:60675,850:61200,858:62175,875:62775,885:63225,893:63675,900:69034,955:69772,967:71822,981:72232,987:75020,1024:76332,1042:76906,1050:78300,1084:78956,1093:80022,1100:80842,1111:83138,1147:83712,1155:97432,1299:106740,1459:116006,1645:121055,1695:121445,1711:121770,1717:122225,1726:123330,1767:123655,1774:123980,1780:126175,1793:126781,1800:128397,1824:129306,1834:130619,1846:131326,1854:132806,1885:134370,1911:137614,1939:137958,1944:142602,2024:144236,2055:144580,2060:144924,2065:150514,2149:154327,2175:156488,2198:157090,2208:157950,2219:158810,2239:159412,2247:162508,2327:167410,2423:173727,2461:175293,2476:176337,2493:184757,2655:186245,2672:187454,2697:194974,2807:201166,2953:204406,3001:207502,3047:207862,3053:208294,3060:208798,3068:209158,3075:211246,3127:212902,3163:213406,3171:213694,3176:221310,3208:221877,3215:227304,3316:227628,3321:227952,3327:228276,3332:228681,3338:229248,3347:231840,3375:239520,3439:239788,3444:240257,3452:240726,3460:242200,3496:242602,3504:242870,3509:243205,3515:244411,3557:244880,3566:245550,3586:246823,3620:247292,3628:251202,3640:253162,3678:255612,3710:256592,3721:266490,3816:267255,3826:267850,3833:277886,3956:280262,4001:280614,4006:281406,4017:288096,4058:288916,4066:289490,4075:292934,4122:293426,4129:294246,4141:294902,4150:296214,4167:299750,4191

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Ella Mizzell Kelly's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Ella Mizzell Kelly lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about her family's move from Norfolk, Virginia to New York, New York

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers her relationship with her maternal grandfather

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls her paternal grandparents

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about her sister

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls her childhood aspirations

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood in New York, New York

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers special days during her childhood

Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her childhood neighborhood in New York, New York

Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls her childhood religious life

Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her distant relationship with her mother

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers the aftermath of her parents' divorce

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her elementary school experiences

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers her early interest in attending college

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her childhood aspirations

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers difficulties stemming from her academic success as a child

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls working at her maternal aunt and uncle's insurance agency as a child in New York, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers her experiences at Julia Richman High School in New York, New York in the 1950s

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about her decision to attend college

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls transferring to Howard University after experiencing racial discrimination at New York State College for Teachers

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers her mentors at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls her mentor Eugene C. Holmes at Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about studying at Oxford University in England in 1959 on a Lucy E. Moten Travel Fellowship from Howard University

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers student life at Oxford University in Oxford, England

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls student life at Howard University in Washington D.C.in the late 1950s and early 1960s

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls teaching history in Washington, D.C. public schools

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about the impact of learning about African history on her students and herself

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes coming to understand the systemic nature of racism while working in the federal Office of Education

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Ella Mizzell Kelly remembers her decision to leave teaching and work for the federal Office of Education in 1969

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Ella Mizzell Kelly explains why she decided to obtain a Ph.D. in 1982

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls working at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California while completing her Ph.D. requirements

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Ella Mizzell Kelly explains how she focused her research on HIV/AIDS risk in low-income adolescent girls

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about her current work on HIV/AIDS and women's health at Howard University College of Medicine

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Ella Mizzell Kelly explains potential research into sexual orientation and gender identity factors of HIV/AIDS risk

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Ella Mizzell Kelly gives advice to women about mitigating HIV/AIDS risk

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes her concerns for low-income African American girls

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Ella Mizzell Kelly reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Ella Mizzell Kelly talks about her son

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Ella Mizzell Kelly describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Ella Mizzell Kelly concludes her interview by recalling an oral history assignment from her career as a young public school teacher

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$4

DAStory

1$2

DATitle

Ella Mizzell Kelly recalls her mentor Eugene C. Holmes at Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Ella Mizzell Kelly explains how she focused her research on HIV/AIDS risk in low-income adolescent girls

Transcript

So, you were talking about one of your professors [at Howard University, Washington, D.C.] who had, your introduction to the term feminist.$$Yes, yes, it was [Dr.] Eugene [C.] Holmes who was a protege of Alain Locke and--who was the first African American to become a Rhodes Scholar. So, he was telling me about being, and of course, I didn't understand what it was. Oh, I know what it was. We were talking about a paper I should write, and he was recommending that I write a paper on Margaret Fuller. And he said she was a feminist and he considered himself to be feminist too. And, you know, I said, "Okay," (laughter), left the class and ran to the library and looked up feminist, someone who believes women as equals. And I thought, "Okay, that's nice." And then I would try to figure out, you know, why was he making this point? And I never quite figured it out except that what I do remember, and aside from the fact that he was absolutely brilliant, and was challenging, and his classes that he taught, he taught classes on Marxist theory, Marxism and a couple of other classes as I recall. I can't remember right now. But the particular class on Marxism I do remember because I wrote a paper that he thought was the best he'd had in a long time which, coming from him, was a real, you know. But the thing that I do remember was that he was married to a woman [Margaret Cardozo Holmes] who was a businesswoman, and she--her family was quite wealthy. And it was the first example in my life in which this was obviously a very, very accomplished man who was very, very proud of his wife's accomplishments. It made an indelible impression on me. And I always stayed in touch with him. And it turns out that I have a relative--they all used to be up on the Cape [Cod, Massachusetts]. I have a relative who's well-to-do who taught at Harvard [University, Cambridge, Massachusetts] whom I'm very close to, and in the course of mentioning things, it turns out that he and his wife and Eugene and his wife were very, very close friends. And he told me that Eugene had died. And so I wrote a letter to the wife to tell her what he had meant to me. And she wrote a very, very nice letter back, and said, "Oh, yeah, I remember you. My husband always talked about--" and I'm crying, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, you know, it meant a lot to me. He was a very, he was the one who whenever thought I could sort of slip and slide, (laughter) he would just say, you know, "Do it over," (laughter).$And one year--it must have been '94 [1994], that's right, '94 [1994]--there was a conference going on in California, I mean in San Francisco [California]. A colleague of mine in the department couldn't go and said, she said, "I think you'll enjoy this. I can't go. Why don't you go for me?" And it turned out that it was a conference plan that was run by The [James] Irvine Foundation. The Irvine Foundation is the not-for-profit people who use the money from the--Orange County [California] used to be owned by one family. When the family, the Irvine family, started selling off the property, they created a foundation for the State of California called The Irvine Foundation. It has so much money, you can't begin to imagine what it's like. And they were interested in a major initiative in women's health. So they were putting 50 million dollars into a five-year effort to look at issues around women's health. So I went as an observer. And while I was there, a--two young women, Connie Chan Robison and Diane Littlefield, were talking about this idea that they had for training women, grassroots women, to be leaders in the area of women's health. And they had this proposal that they, they were in the--they were finalists, but they had to get this final proposal written. And the idea attracted me. It seems like a natural--and I, during lunch, I talked to them, and said, "Let me look at what you put together." It was horrible, but the idea was great, and I said, "No, no, no," (laughter) you know, "you've got forty-four objectives. There's no way you're gonna do this. Let me tell you what you need." And I suggested some things to them, and they liked it. And they said, "Look, we don't have any money." And I said, "That's all right. It's a great idea." So I worked with them, and they got something like over 5 million dollars. So when they got the money, they hired me as a consultant. And it was the best experience I'd had in a long time because it was, you know, first of all, their idea was that they were gonna, they were going to, in a five-year period of time, they were gonna train 250 women from every major ethnic group in the State of California to take on a leadership role in the area of women's health, as they defined it, meaning the women themselves defined it.$$Were they successful?$$Oh, absolutely, yeah. They've been written up a lot. They've gotten all kinds of awards. It was, and at that point, I decided that I really wanted to work in the areas of women's health, but I narrowed it down to HIV/AIDS [human immunodeficiency virus/autoimmune deficiency syndrome].$$Because what was the AIDS issue like among women, more particularly African American women in the--$$This would have been in the '90s [1990s]. In the '90s [1990s], it was a gay disease. In the beginning of the '90s [1990s], it was a gay disease. By the end of the '90s [1990], it was an African American disease. By the beginning of the 21st century, it was a women's disease which, and essentially, it's really a human rights issue. It's a universal human rights issue.$$Would you say it was more of an African American women's disease than just a women's disease?$$In the United States, it is, but globally, it's a women's disease. And it's low-income, uneducated women. I mean it's very, very clear that the population most at risk are those who are pov--mainly, it's by gender, race and class. And I've written several articles that have been published. Some of them don't show up there because they've, within the past few years, they've just been published. But I've written several articles as well as a couple of chapters in books around this. I focus mainly on adolescent girls, and why they're at risks, and the fact that for young adolescent, low-income girls, you literally have a time bomb that's waiting to explode, because you have issues having to do with poverty. You have issues having to do with sexism, and you have the issues having to do with racism and discrimination all coming together. And that's, it's the combination of what I--what we refer to in the social sciences as multiple social violences that place them at risk.

Read more about Ella Mizzell Kelly

Dr. Linda Rae Murray

Dr. Linda Rae Murray was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 25, 1948. After graduating from Collinwood High School in 1966, Murray attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her B.S. degree in mathematics in 1973. Murray continued her education at UIC, earning her M.D. in 1977. Following the completion of her M.D., Murray attended the University of Illinois School of Public Health in Chicago, where she earned her master’s of public health in 1980; she later returned to school to continue her education in the doctoral program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

After completing her medical degree, Murray became a resident physician in internal medicine and occupational therapy at Cook County Hospital, where she remained until 1980. In 1981, Murray left Cook County Hospital for Bethany Hospital, also in Chicago, and in 1983, became the medical director for the Manitoba Federation of Labour in Winnipeg, Canada. Murray returned to the United States in 1985, and began teaching at Meharry Medical College; in 1987, she returned to Chicago to work with the Chicago Department of Health. By 1992, Murray had become the medical director of the Near North Health Services Corporation. After a series of other high-level positions, Murray became the chief medical officer of Primary Care & Community Health: Ambulatory & Community Health Network of Cook County. Later, Murray became the attending physician at the Woodlawn Health Center. Throughout her career of health administration and medical practice, Murray also worked as a teacher, teaching internal medicine and midwifery, among other courses. In 2005, Murray was elected Chief Medical Officer of the Ambulatory & Community Health Network of the American Public Health Association, a position she would hold until 2009.

Murray was also an active member of her community, having been involved with dozens of groups and organizations over the years. From 1981 until 1983, Murray was a part of the First Congressional District of Illinois Health Task Force under Harold Washington; she returned to that role from 1985 to 1992 under Congressman Charles Hayes. Murray has received many awards, including the Daniel Hale Williams Award from the cook County Physician’s Association, and the Distinguished Service in the Health Field Award form the National Association of Minority Medical Educators.

Accession Number

A2004.151

Sex

Female

Interview Date

8/30/2004

Last Name

Murray

Maker Category

EducationMakers

MedicalMakers

Middle Name

Rae

Occupation

Medical Instructor

Internal Medicine Physician

Medical Administrator

Organizations

Advisory Committee, Northwestern University Medical School, Master\'s in Public Health program

Trinity Health

American Public Health Association

National Academy of Sciences

Schools

Collinwood High School

Marion-Sterling Elementary School

University of Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois College of Medicine

Boulevard Elementary School

First Name

Linda

Birth City, State, Country

Cleveland

HM ID

MUR07

Favorite Season

Fall

State

Ohio

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2004.151.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/243994

Favorite Vacation Destination

Home

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Interview Description

A2004_151_EAD.pdf

A2004_151_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

8/25/1948

Birth Place Term

Cleveland

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Sweet Pototo Pie

Short Description

Medical instructor, internal medicine physician, and medical administrator Dr. Linda Rae Murray (1948 - ) held a variety of high-ranking positions in health administration in Chicago, Illinois, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Most recently, Murray served as the chief medical officer of the Ambulatory & Community Health Network of the American Public Health Association. Throughout her career of health administration and medical practice, Murray also worked as a teacher, teaching internal medicine and midwifery, among other courses.

Employment

Cook County Hospital

Bethany Hospital - Chicago

Manitoba Federation of Labour- Winnipeg, Canada

Meharry Medical College

Chicago Department of Health

Primary Care & Community Health: Ambulatory & Community Health Network of Cook County

Woodlawn Health Center

Favorite Color

Blue

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/228458

Timing Pairs

0,0:1325,28:1750,34:4045,79:5235,109:6510,127:8210,194:11780,259:13735,294:15265,314:21196,344:22624,376:23848,412:25004,437:25276,442:25956,456:26500,467:30512,544:32688,582:32960,587:33232,596:35204,633:37176,676:38672,717:39352,730:39896,741:44086,750:45022,764:45802,776:47518,820:48064,839:50950,915:51262,920:52432,951:54850,1020:72962,1344:73327,1351:74057,1364:74641,1371:76977,1425:78145,1442:88712,1663:92744,1792:93000,1797:93576,1810:94344,1828:94856,1839:95240,1846:96136,1876:96840,1894:109430,2128:113986,2263:114723,2279:115125,2291:115795,2302:116197,2310:124837,2429:129498,2522:131236,2550:132421,2569:133764,2597:134159,2603:135660,2641:136292,2650:139610,2733:143278,2743:143938,2755:144334,2762:150076,2890:150670,2900:151528,2916:151792,2921:153640,2991:153970,2997:156874,3072:157204,3078:157600,3086:163450,3126$0,0:3276,147:3978,169:9750,289:10296,300:10686,312:13650,369:13962,374:15288,403:17706,443:22487,455:23936,490:24419,498:27869,598:29456,647:29939,655:33941,758:34838,774:37805,846:38219,853:38702,862:50152,997:52858,1067:59026,1142:67575,1395:68239,1410:73516,1439:74164,1450:76324,1510:77908,1546:79132,1571:79420,1576:81868,1621:89932,1802:90364,1809:97040,1882:97551,1890:102018,1967:106782,2066:107293,2074:122915,2439:123207,2444:128282,2488:129668,2533:135786,2621:140394,2747:152420,2958:157100,3116:157568,3123:165134,3205:170506,3360:172002,3409:178190,3634:185364,3667:185668,3672:186048,3678:188404,3714:188936,3722:189468,3731:193724,3842:198300,3897:198650,3903:202220,4018:202570,4024:206630,4134:207120,4142:219600,4294

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Linda Rae Murray's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her mother's side of the family, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray shares a story about her maternal great-grandmother

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her maternal great-grandmother

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her mother's side of the family, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her mother's childhood in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her family's limited educational opportunities

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers the impact of World War II on her family , pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers the impact of World War II on her family, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her early political activism

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her father's family background, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her father's family background, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her father's upbringing

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about cultural institutions in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls the social demographics of Cleveland, Ohio when she was growing up

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers participating in a Marxist study group as a teenager

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray explains how her view of civil rights activism was shaped by her studies of Marxism

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her experiences at Marion-Sterling Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls being pestered by a librarian at the Sterling Branch Library in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her experiences at Marion-Sterling Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her experiences at Boulevard Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her experiences at Boulevard Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers being a coach for her little league baseball team in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her involvement in sports growing up

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about moving out of the projects in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls a memorable teacher from Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers taking time off at Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her family's views on religion

Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about reactions to her identity as an atheist

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her experience serving on the board of the AIDS Pastoral Care Network in Chicago, Illinois while being an atheist

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about Reverend Bruce W. Klunder's death

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls protests against integrating Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls protests against integrating Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio, pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls how Collinwood High School in Cleveland, Ohio was evacuated during violent protests

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray explains why she attended the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers being stopped by the Chicago police her first night at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about majoring in mathematics at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers a controversial instructor from the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers her decision to pursue medicine, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers her decision to pursue medicine, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her decision to pursue medical school while pregnant

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray explains her decision to transfer to the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers a sexist response when she asked for a recommendation to medical school

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers challenges at the financial aid office at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray explains how she received financial assistance for medical school as a research assistant at Cook County Hospital

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her impressions of medical school, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her impressions of medical school, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers the support network of minority students at University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about memorable medical professionals from University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 5 Story: 11 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her political involvement as a medical student at University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers specializing in environmental and occupational medicine

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her experiences working at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray details her work with labor unions at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes challenges she faced while working at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about leaving Chicago, Illinois for a position at Manitoba Federation of Labour in Canada

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her decision to lead Meharry Medical College's occupational health program

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray details her involvement with the Chicago Department of Health

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray recalls her return to the Cook County health system

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her involvement in national and local health organizations

Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers her involvement on the board of the American Public Health Administration during the Clinton health plan debates

Tape: 6 Story: 11 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray reflects upon the factors that make a community healthy

Tape: 6 Story: 12 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers Dr. Paul B. Cornely's impact on her public health interests

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about the accomplishments of Dr. Paul B. Cornely

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community, pt. 1

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community, pt. 2

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray reflects upon her life experiences

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Dr. Linda Rae Murray narrates her photographs

DASession

1$1

DATape

4$5

DAStory

1$4

DATitle

Dr. Linda Rae Murray talks about her experience serving on the board of the AIDS Pastoral Care Network in Chicago, Illinois while being an atheist

Dr. Linda Rae Murray remembers a sexist response when she asked for a recommendation to medical school

Transcript

I was going to tell you one story about the religious--the, the one time in my life where I thought this was really relevant. Early in the AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] epidemic, a Baptist minister approached me to, to make a tape that they were using to educate Baptist ministers about AIDS. And he actually was one of the board members of an organization that used to exist in Chicago [Illinois] called the AIDS Pastoral Care Network. And this was a group of Catholic priests and other leaders of religion who came together to work on the AIDS problems and, and to deal with the homophobia in all the churches. The feeling was many of the organized churches were not responsive to the AIDS epidemic early on and this was a group of ministers and priests who were trying to respond. And so after I had worked with them a little bit, they asked me to be on the board. And you know they, they were very careful. They have, you know, rabbis and Baptists and you know all the, you know all the different groups. And I told them, I said well I'll be glad to be on your board, but I, I'm an atheist. And they said, "Oh, [HistoryMaker Dr.] Linda [Rae Murray], don't worry, we're ecumenical. We have Jews and radical faeries and Catholics. We won't mind an atheist or two." So that was their approach. And as a matter of fact when I went off the board, because we would always have these discussions on the board and--I was always the one that would say, I thought you guys were supposed to be spiritual leaders. You know, shouldn't we be doing this and that and the other? And so I, I have a plaque that's in my office and it, and it is from them and it doesn't say I'm an atheist, but it says--but, but they would always say is, "Well, you may be an atheist, but you're very spiritual." That, that's what they would always tell me, you know. "When you talk, you're very spiritual." So I said, well if you say so. So I guess that's where I am, that's what--that's--I suppose if I was pressed against the wall, that's what I would tell people. I'm an atheist, but I guess I'm spiritual enough that the, that the organized religions can tolerate me, so.$$What do you think they mean by that when they say you're spiritual?$$Well--'cause I always referred back to the principles that we worked under, you know and, and you know I mean for lack of a better word, they're the principles of any religion, you know, that you want to be compassionate, that you want to be fair, that you want to take the organization in a direction that fulfilled its mission. So if there was a grant proposal out there that took us in an opposite direction, that we really, you know we were really supposed to be doing, providing spiritual support for people with AIDS, and for their families. And so you know if there was a choice, should we do--be doing pastoral care or should we do something else like spend more time on the AIDS walk. You know I would always say well what are our basic principles say? I think that's what they meant by it, that I would always refer back to what the organization's principles were.$At U of I [University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois] they called me in and said, you know, "[HistoryMaker Dr.] Linda [Rae Murray], you have," you know, "you need 200 hours to graduate, you got 250," or what--you know I had, I had way over what, you know and, "you're taking up space. We need you to graduate." I, you know I had long since finished all my math courses and stuff and I said well, the reason I haven't graduated is because I'm really pre-med and I'm applying to medical school and you know and I, you know, just had whatever cell biology. I was in the process of doing that. And they said, "You're never getting into medical school, you know, you need to go on and get out of here. You, you have a degree in math. You have no choice. We're, we're going to make you graduate." It was December or something. So I walked down the hall and I changed my major to art. Filled out the paperwork. I didn't have a art course. I tried to pick something I didn't have a course in. So I changed my major to art so they couldn't force me to graduate. I only had one more semester to go. And that's the, that's the time when I was applying. And I, I remember my organic--you know U of I is a huge place. And so you don't, you know it's not like U of C [University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois]. So you don't, you don't know very many fac--I didn't know any of the faculty there, nobody. You're in this huge classroom, three hundred kids, you know, nothing. And you had to have recommendations. And so they had a system where they would, they would give you a generic recommendation that some English major would write, just based on your grades. And, but you had to have it. So I went to my organic teacher and I remember Marcus [Murray]-- Marcus was--my son--was a little baby in arms then, I had had him. And, and I had gotten a good grade in organic chemistry. So I said, well let me, you know go talk to him. And I had, had some interaction with the professor, not very much, but--and I said, you know "I'm trying to go to medical school and you know I, and I need you--I need a recommendation". You know and so, "I, I would like to ask you to give me a recommendation." It was very difficult for me to go ask. And he, and he, you know, looked up his files and he said, "Oh, I remember, I remember you. You were an excellent student. He said I would love to give you a recommendation, but I just can't." So I was--I said well why not? He said, "Because I don't think women should be doctors." I was in shock. We talked for like two hours. I said, "Well why do you say that?" He had grown up in the [Great] Depression. His mother was a stay-at-home mother and she had to go to work during the Depression. You know he--and that just scarred him. He just didn't think women--he thought women should be at home. And I said, "Well do you, do you know who I am?" I said, "I'm a"--I said, "The women in my family all work. First they were picking cotton as slaves, I mean they all--what are you talking about? We're--you have to work," you know. I said, "I'm a single mother. If I don't work, my son is going to starve. I would prefer to work as a doctor than scrubbing out toilets, but I'm going to work. Now the question is"--so we had this big discussion back and forth and I was trying to say, you know, working class women and black women, we've always worked. If you don't work, your kids starve, you know. I couldn't understand. He never budged. So I said--so I finally told him I don't--I guess he didn't do horrible, 'cause I got in. I said, "Well I'll tell you what. I said you know I have to have three recommendations. If you write down exactly what you told me, I could live with that." He said, "What?" I said, "If you just, if you promise me that you'll write down that if I was a man, you would think I would be a great doctor and I was a good student, but you don't think I should--if you just are honest. If you, if you're going to write down I shouldn't be a doctor, I don't want--but if you can promise me that you'll write down the real reason, exactly what you've told me, I'll live with that." He said, "Okay, I can do that," you know. So I was shocked at that time to have somebody verbally say that.

Read more about Dr. Linda Rae Murray

Dr. Annelle B. Primm

Annelle Beneé Primm was born on January 26, 1956 in Geneva, Switzerland. Her mother was a music teacher and her father a physician. She lived in Switzerland until she was four years old while her father was attending medical school. After earning his medical degree, her father moved the family to his native New York. She grew up in the bedroom community of New Rochelle and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1972.

Although she received an academic scholarship to the University of Virginia, Primm decided to attend Harvard-Radcliffe in Boston. She earned her bachelor's of arts degree in biology in 1976. Despite taking off the second semester of her junior year to help care for her mother who was dying of cancer, she graduated with her class. In 1980, Primm earned her medical degree from Howard University. After completing her residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, she earned her MPH degree from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1985.

While at Hopkins in 1985, she co-founded a program called COSTAR (Community Support Treatment and Rehabilitation), which provided in-home mental health treatment to patients. From 1985 until 1986, she worked as a psychiatrist at Provident Hospital in Baltimore. During this time she also worked as the director of the City Division of Springfield State Hospital, a Maryland psychiatric hospital. She also worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1980 until 2004. She held a variety of positions at Hopkins including, staff psychiatrist, associate professor and the Director of Community Psychiatry.

In 1999, Primm produced a videotape called Black and Blue that highlighted depression in the African American community and encouraged minorities to seek treatment for mental illness. In 2001, she produced Gray and Blue, which helps senior citizens recognize and treat depression.

Currently, Primm works as the Director of Minority and National Affairs for the American Psychiatric Association. She also maintains a small private practice and is a psychiatric consultant to On Our Own, a drop-in center for adults with mental illness. She is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the recipient of numerous awards for her work in community psychiatry.

She lives in Baltimore, Maryland her husband, Herbert, and daughter, India.

Accession Number

A2004.109

Sex

Female

Interview Date

7/26/2004 |and| 9/22/2004

7/26/2004

9/22/2004

Last Name

Primm

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

Middle Name

Occupation

Psychiatrist

Organizations

American ASsociation of Community Psychiatry

Mental Health Association of Maryland

Black Psychiatrists of America

Monumental Medical Society

American College of Psychiatry

American Public Health Association

Schools

New Rochelle High School

Johns Hopkins University

Isaac E Young Middle School

Radcliffe College

Howard University

First Name

Annelle

Birth City, State, Country

Geneva

HM ID

PRI03

Favorite Season

Spring

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2004.109.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/203352

Favorite Vacation Destination

Jamaica

Favorite Quote

This Too Shall Pass.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2004_109_EAD.pdf

A2004_109_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

1/26/1956

Birth Place Term

Geneva

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

Switzerland

Favorite Food

Spaghetti

Short Description

Psychiatrist Dr. Annelle B. Primm (1956 - ) served as Director of the City Division of Springfield State Hospital, a Maryland psychiatric hospital. Primm also held a variety of positions at Johns Hopkins, including staff psychiatrist, associate professor and the Director of Community Psychiatry.

Employment

CoStar Group, Inc.

Provident Hospital

Springfield State Hospital

Johns Hopkins Hospital

American Psychiatric Association

Delete

Favorite Color

Yellow

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/203356

Timing Pairs

0,0:594,3:2146,12:2728,71:3116,76:10620,152:11932,175:12588,185:26420,370:26825,376:31037,435:35411,515:36707,538:37436,550:38003,556:43106,581:43550,589:45474,623:45770,628:46880,646:47990,680:48360,686:50210,713:50580,722:51172,731:55644,764:56496,777:58271,803:58910,814:59407,822:63951,885:64235,890:64874,902:65584,916:65868,921:66436,928:67004,937:68637,966:72224,982:74096,1015:78854,1097:79634,1109:80102,1116:80570,1179:80882,1184:82130,1206:84158,1244:85874,1271:86420,1279:86732,1284:87044,1290:88058,1304:88448,1310:88760,1315:89930,1339:91490,1364:91802,1369:92114,1374:92660,1382:99226,1410:101358,1441:102834,1471:104638,1501:105048,1507:106278,1536:106606,1541:107098,1549:107508,1556:108164,1565:108574,1571:115579,1604:115871,1609:117696,1649:118134,1658:118937,1673:119813,1687:120105,1692:120908,1707:122952,1758:123390,1765:123755,1771:124923,1808:125361,1815:125726,1821:126091,1827:126894,1841:127478,1851:127989,1860:133570,1889:134370,1899:134970,1907:136470,1918:137770,1934:138470,1943:139070,1950:139570,1957:140270,1965:141170,1975:142870,1994:144070,2012:150630,2068:151050,2075:151400,2081:152310,2096:152660,2102:153360,2114:154340,2128:155320,2145:155600,2150:157770,2188:158330,2197:158610,2202:159380,2215:159660,2220:160010,2226:160500,2234:160990,2243:161900,2259:168072,2310:168540,2317:169008,2325:169632,2336:170646,2353:175872,2450:176496,2460:176808,2465:177120,2470:177744,2480:178134,2487:178914,2500:179226,2505:180318,2521:180864,2530:185490,2547:186218,2556:187037,2569:188038,2582:192270,2618:193035,2630:196010,2670:199410,2721:200600,2742:201365,2752:202045,2761:202725,2770:203405,2781:204170,2793:204510,2798:213621,3039:215007,3063:215931,3078:216547,3090:217240,3100:219912,3133:220344,3142:220632,3147:223152,3189:223512,3195:223800,3200:224520,3211:225096,3222:225600,3232:226248,3243:226536,3248:229580,3264$0,0:1818,20:2262,27:3076,40:3668,48:5888,90:6332,97:10846,204:11142,210:12104,228:12696,236:13288,245:19040,284:19496,292:20332,305:22308,341:24740,372:25044,377:28388,429:28920,437:29300,443:29908,453:30516,462:37430,507:41075,567:41885,578:43667,603:46016,637:47069,646:52091,735:52415,740:54197,761:54764,769:61108,799:61620,809:61876,814:62452,824:63220,838:63732,848:65844,899:66292,907:66612,913:66868,918:71168,944:71578,950:71906,955:72972,967:75104,997:81500,1087:81828,1092:82238,1098:84042,1125:85272,1151:85928,1159:88060,1186:88716,1196:90274,1218:91012,1227:98215,1253:98854,1263:99280,1270:100132,1284:101765,1305:102617,1327:103682,1352:105031,1374:107161,1418:107445,1423:108368,1439:108723,1445:109220,1454:109717,1462:110995,1485:116050,1513:117627,1534:118125,1541:120615,1586:121113,1593:122275,1606:124101,1633:125429,1666:125761,1671:127587,1698:128915,1711:130990,1736:131488,1743:132567,1757:138575,1792:140650,1823:142801,1836:143443,1843:144920,1851

DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Annelle B. Primm's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her ancestry and grandparents

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes childhood holidays and her mother teaching the children music

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood in New Rochelle, New York

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her grade school experience in Huntington, New York and her childhood personality

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her sisters

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her elementary school teachers and aspirations

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her religious education

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm remembers her family's home in New Rochelle, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her experience at Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her aspiration to become a physician during her early teenage years

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her experience at New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about New Rochelle, New York and her interest in Harvard-Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm remembers her University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia scholarship offer and her choice to attend Harvard-Radcliffe College

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her life at Harvard-Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about her mother's struggle with breast cancer

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Annelle Primm talks about the black community at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm remembers coping with her mother's cancer and supporting her younger sisters

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes her experience at Howard University College of Medicine, her first experience at an all-black school

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm explains how she chose to specialize in psychiatry

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about COSTAR (Community Support Treatment and Rehabilitation) the first urban support program for the severely mentally ill

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about mental health disparities in the African American community

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm reflects on the stigma around mental illness in the African American community

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes 'Black and Blue,' her video-series on depression in the African American community

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about how collaboration between the religious and mental health communities can improve the quality of mental health services

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about needed changes in the African American community's relationship to therapy and psychiatry

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes common mental illnesses in the African American community

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about combatting stigma against mental healthcare in the African American community

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm reflects on the cost of mental healthcare

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm talks about the state of the field of psychiatry

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm gives advice about pursuing a mental health career as an African American

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm narrates her photographs, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dr. Annelle B. Primm narrates her photographs, pt. 2

DASession

2$2

DATape

3$3

DAStory

4$8

DATitle

Dr. Annelle B. Primm explains how she chose to specialize in psychiatry

Dr. Annelle B. Primm describes 'Black and Blue,' her video-series on depression in the African American community

Transcript

So while at Howard [University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.], what were you thinking--what type of doctor were you thinking you wanted to be?$$Initially, at Howard I thought I would be an OB/GYN physician [obstetrics and gynecology] and, you know, I just had this fascination with the birth process, but it was interesting when I did my rotation in obstetrics, every single one of the deliveries except for one was a cesarean section, and I was not big on surgery and knew I didn't want to do that, and so that turned me off, as well as the hours that, that obstetricians have to keep and, I guess, now, you know, with their malpractice being so high, I think I made the right choice. So--$$How did you make the decision about psychiatry?$$You know, I'd always loved psychiatry, my psychiatry courses in medical school, and enjoyed reading the psychiatry text and, you know, took them to bed with me as if they were a pleasure book compared to some of the other text that were really, really rough to get through. But the psychiatry was actually enjoyable, and when I did my psychiatry rotation at Walter Reed [National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland], I just loved it. I mean, it came naturally. I enjoyed, you know, listening to the patients, talking with them, understanding their life stories and some of the psychological challenges they were dealing with. But still, I did not choose psychiatry outright for residency. I was going to do flexible medicine or surgery, which would have given me a little more time to make a decision about what I would ultimately do. But what happened was--I mean, I'll tell you why that is, because really psychiatry at that time and maybe still now a little bit, has been a thought of as a second class specialty in medicine, and you know, people don't think you're a real doctor if you're a psychiatrist. And we had to apply for what is called the residency match which is really like a lottery where you make a list of the programs that you want to apply to and be considered for, and then you go around doing interviews and those programs in turn rank you according to how much they want you in their program, and a computer puts together the best match between your top choices and the different program top choices. I didn't apply for enough places, really, in order to get any match, and so on match day when everybody was finding out where they were going to be, I did not match and what that meant was that I needed to go meet with a dean and find out from the book of programs that did not match all of their spaces--where might I go? So this was an opportunity for me to choose psychiatry because in the sort of unmatched space book, there were many psychiatry residency programs that had openings. Some of the best programs; Harvard [Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts], Yale [School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut], Baylor [College of Medicine, Houston, Texas], et cetera; and Johns Hopkins [School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland] which had an opening, and I ended up talking to the director of residency training and my dean spoke on my behalf. They were impressed with me, and so I ended up going into psychiatry after all, which was really the best decision for me.$And one of the ways you're reaching the African American community is through a videotape series called 'Black and Blue.' Can you tell us a little bit about that and how it came about?$$Yes. 'Black and Blue: Depression in the African American community' grew out of my awareness of lack of awareness of depression as an illness in African Americans. I was fortunate to have some patients of mine who were willing to be filmed talking about their own personal experiences with depression as a syndrome, a cluster of symptoms, and I'd asked each of them about their experience with it, how it affected their mood, how it affected their sense of self, their self-esteem, and how it affected their sense of well-being. In the video, I also included a pastor--a Baptist pastor, who, you know, talked about the fact that it's important for people to seek health for their mental health needs, there's nothing wrong with that in God's eyes. So I think that because the people who spoke on the video have had depression, have experienced it, that there's a certain sincerity or genuineness that comes across to the person who's watching; whether they're African American or regardless of, ethnic or racial background. I think it really goes a long way to educating people regardless of their literacy level because, you know, we often hand out all these pamphlets and written materials that are often written at a level much higher than the level that the average person reads, which is supposedly sixth grade. So using videotapes for public education, and, in particular, public mental health education is really effective, and I've used it as a tool and, you know, many different environments; in churches, in schools, even to educate health professionals about, you know, when--examples of African Americans who have are experiencing mental illness.

Read more about Dr. Annelle B. Primm

Subscribe to American Public Health Association