Dorothy Lavinia Brown

1
Dorothy Lavinia Brown

• Created By
• Becky Perrault
• Becky Segall

2
History

• Born in Philadelphia, PA. around January 7, 1919
• Put up for adoption at 5 months old
• Lived in an orphanage until she was 13 years old

3
Pathway to Becoming a Surgeon

• She became interested in medicine when
• At the age of 5, she had her tonsils removed
• This excitement led her to her dream
• At 13 years old, her mother reclaimed her
• Ran away 4-5 times

• Enrolled herself in high school
• Lived with foster parents Lola and Samuel Wesley
  Redmon
• They played a major role in her life
• Source of security, support and values

4
Minor Accomplishments

• Through childhood struggles, she was able to
  graduate from Troy High School
• Top of her class
• Obtained a scholarship to Bennett College
• Graduated 2nd in her class

• Enrolled at Meharry Medical College
• Graduated in the top third of her class

5
Obstacles

• Residency at Harlem hospital in New York
• Strong opposition to female surgeons
• Women couldnt withstand the difficulty of
  surgery
• Denied surgical residency
• Went back to Meharry Medical College convinced
  the chief of surgery to give her a residency
  there

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Major Accomplishments

• 1954- became the first African American Woman
  Surgeon in the South
• 1956- First single woman in Tennessee to become
  an adoptive parent

• 1966- First African American to serve in the
  Tennessee State Legislature
• Created Negro History Week which is now Black
  History Month
• Legalized abortion in TN in cases of rape or
  incest

7
Career Accomplishments

• Served as the educational director at the
  Riverside-Meharry Clinic
• Chief of Surgery at Riverside
• Became an attending surgeon at the George W.
  Hubbard Hospital.

• Professor of surgery at the Meharry Medical
  College
• Honorary degrees in Humanities at Bennett College
  and Cumberland University
• Second Black woman to be made a fellow of
  American College of Surgeons

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Honors

• Honorary Doctoral Degree at Russell Sage College
• Humanitarian Award from the Carnegie Foundation
• Horatio Alger Award
• Honoring achievements of individuals in our
  society who have succeeded in spite of adversity

• Role model to hundreds or people around the world
• Her story is optimistic and shows that anyone can
  achieve their goals throughout life

9
Contributions to Science

• Changed the views of men scientists that women
  can withstand the rigors of surgery
• Strong political views
• Served on the Tennessee legislation, showing that
  African Americans and women do have an opinion

10
Death

• Died June 13, 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee
• 85 years old
• Died from
• Congestive Heart Failure
• Brief battle with Breast Cancer
• Symptoms of Alzheimers disease

11
Thoughts About Brown

• Dr. John Maupin (president of Meharry Medical
  College) thoughts of Dr. Browns life
• Our nation has lost one of its greatest
  forces in medicine. Through determination and
  perseverance and with the support of the
  Methodist Church, Dr. Brown opened doors
  previously closed to females and people of
  color.
• Dr. Dorothy Brown
• ''There's nothing like a woman. What you've got
  to make up in your mind you're going to be a
  beautiful, soft woman, but a hell of a doctor.''