Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown
January 7, 1919 – June 13, 2004
Pioneer Surgeon, Educator, Legislator, and Activist
The first African American woman to be elected to the Tennessee State Legislature for a two-year term.
The first African American woman to be made a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
The first known single female in Tennessee to legally adopt a child,
The first African American female surgeon in the South
Dorothy Lavinia Brown, MD, a surgeon and Tennessee lawmaker, is the sole woman in the 2017 class of inductees into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame.
Dr. Dorothy Brown is a member of the American College of Surgery. She is a past member of the board of Trustees Church as well as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. at Bennett College, also a member of the United Methodist
Dorothy Lavinia Brown was the first African American female surgeon in the South. She was born on January 7, 1919, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When she was only five months old, her unmarried mother placed her in the Troy Orphanage. She lived at the orphanage until she was thirteen years old. At the age of thirteen, Dorothy’s mother came and took her out of the orphanage, but they did not get along very well. Dorothy ran away from home four times. She was then placed as a mother’s helper in Mrs. W.F. Jarrett’s house. Mrs. Jarrett encouraged Dorothy’s desire to become a doctor.
She returned to Troy to finish her education and lived in the home of Samuel and Lola Redmon. They became her foster parents. The Redmons were very supportive of Dorothy and provided her with stability and strength. After graduating high school, she was able to obtain a scholarship to Bennett College through the Women’s Division of Christian Service of the Methodist Church in Troy. In 1941 she received her
Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated second in her class… In 1944 she enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. With financial help from others, she was able to graduate in 1948 in the top third of her class. She did her internship at Harlem Hospital in New York. There was a strong opposition to female surgeons at the time and she was denied a surgical residency. She did not let this stop her from trying to become a surgeon. She went back to Meharry and convinced the surgeon chief Dr.Matthew Walker, to give her a residency there. Her residency was completed in 1954. Dorothy Brown became the first African American female surgeon in the South.
Brown served as the educational director of the Riverside-Meharry Clinical Rotation Program and the chief of surgery at Riverside. She then became the attending surgeon at George W. Hubbard Hospital and professor of surgery at the Meharry Medical College. In addition to being the first African American female surgeon in the South, she was the first single woman in Tennessee to adopt a child. She named her daughter Lola Redmon in honor of her foster mother.
Dorothy also became involved in politics. In 1966 she became the first African American woman to be elected to the Tennessee State Legislature for a two-year term. She tried in 1968 to run for a seat in the Tennessee Senate she was not elected. After losing in her run for a seat in the Tennessee Senate, Brown served on the Joint Committee on Opportunities for Women in Medicine, sponsored by the American Medical Association. Along with supporting women in medicine, Brown also had a major influence in the fight for the rights of people of color and was a lifelong member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).Dr. Dorothy Brown is a member of the American College of Surgery. She is a past member of the board of trustees Church as well as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. at Bennett College, also a member of the United Methodist Church.
In 1956, Brown agreed to adopt a female child from an unmarried patient at the Riverside Hospital. The patient came to Brown while still pregnant and asked her to adopt her child. Brown agreed because she wanted a child and knew that a chance like this would most likely never come again. Brown became the first known single female in Tennessee to legally adopt a child, whom she named Lola Denise Brown in honor of her mother. She later adopted a son named Kevin. On June 13, 2004, in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Dorothy L. Brown died of congestive heart failure. She was 85 years old.
Brown wrote an autobiography, and essays, and inspirational guides
Her Accomplishments:
She was the first female surgeon of African-American ancestry from the Southeastern part of the United
States.
Frst African American to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly having been elected to the
Tennessee House of Representatives.
The third woman to become a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1959.
The Dorothy L. Brown Women’s Residence at Meharry Medical College Nashville was named after her in
1971.
Received honorary doctorate degrees from the Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, and also from
Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina
Received her honorary degrees in the Humanities from Bennett College and Cumberland University.
Dr. Dorothy Brown was a member of the board of trustees at Bennett College and of the Delta Sigma
Theta sorority.
Dr. Dorothy l, Brown an African American First south Surgeon, Legislator, and Teacher
Quotes:
“My basic philosophy of life is the belief that we are here for a purpose-each of us being endowed with
multiple talents; our charge is to develop one or as many of these talents as possible and to use these
talents and the days of our living to glorify God. Therefore I must “Run to Live,” and I must seek to serve
in as many different areas of endeavor as I can.”
Resources: Wiki