Mildred Fay Jefferson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mildred Fay Jefferson
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| Born | April 6, 1927 Pittsburg, Texas, U.S.
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| Died | October 15, 2010 (aged 83) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Education | Texas College (BS) Tufts University (MS) Harvard University (MD) |
| Political party | Republican |
Mildred Fay Jefferson (April 6, 1927 – October 15, 2010) was an American physician and anti-... political activist. The first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, the first woman to graduate in surgery from Harvard Medical School and the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society, she is known for her opposition to the legalization of ... and her work as president of the National Right to Life Committee.
Personal life and education
Born in Pittsburg, Texas, Jefferson was the only child of Millard and Guthrie Jefferson, a Methodist minister, and a school teacher. Her parents divorced before 1976 and lived in Roxbury after their divorce. Jefferson was raised in Carthage, Texas, in the Wesley-Calvinist tradition. At a young age, "Millie" followed the town doctor around on his horse drawn buggy while he made housecalls, this would later inspire her to become a doctor.
She earned her bachelor's degree in three years from Texas College. Since she was considered too young to attend medical school, she went to Tufts University where she received her master's degree in biology. She then went on to Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1951, becoming the first black woman to do so.
Jefferson married in 1963 to Shane Cunningham, whom she met on a skiing trip, a real estate manager. As of 1976, the couple lived in Back Bay and had no children.
Career
Jefferson achieved board certification in surgery in 1972. After graduating from medical school, she did a surgical internship at Boston City Hospital, becoming the first woman to do so. She was also the first female doctor at the former Boston University Medical Center. By 1984, Jefferson was a general surgeon at the center and a professor of surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine. She would later become the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society.
Political activities and positions
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Jefferson was a self-described "Lincoln Republican" and served on the 1980 Massachusetts Reagan for President Campaign. Jefferson had first met Reagan in 1973 while he was governor of California. She also unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the 1982, 1990, and 1994 U.S. Senate elections.
Jefferson opposed the Equal Rights Amendment on the basis that it is unnecessary as the Constitution has no in-built inequity. ..... Jefferson also expressed opposition to welfare and busing, and support for the death penalty.
Death
Jefferson died in her Cambridge home on October 15, 2010, at the age of 83 years. She was divorced and had no children. She was buried in her hometown of Carthage, Texas.
See also
- Black conservatism in the United States
- List of African-American Republicans
