Pioneering African-American Physician

"We give little when we give only our material possessions. It is when we give of ourselves that we truly give. We have the comfort of knowing that our work is not to make a living, but to make a life, not just for ourselves or a select few, but life with its fullness for all, and especially providing the access to health care, which is our special charge." -Edith Irby Jones

Edith Irby Jones was an African-American physician who was the first African American to be accepted as a non-segregated student at the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1952 and the first black student to attend racially mixed classes in the American South. She was the first African American to graduate from a southern medical school, first black intern in the state of Arkansas, and later the first black intern at Baylor College of Medicine. She was also the first woman president to be elected to the National Medical Association in 1985.

Edith was born on December 23, 1927 in Faulkner County, Arkansas to a sharecropper, who died in a riding accident when she was eight, and a domestic worker, or maid. When her older sister was twelve she died of typhoid fever and Edith also suffered from rheumatic fever, motivating her to help those who were undeserved and impoverished, propelling her towards her career in medicine. After her and her mother relocated, Jones won a scholarship and begin studying chemistry, biology, and physics at Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she graduated with her bachelor's in science in 1948 and after completing a graduate course at Northwestern University, she was admitted to the University of Arkansas Medical School.

Even though Jones had been admitted to the medical school she still suffered from several racist injustices, including being forced to separate amenities such as housing and dining. She received her M.D. in 1952 and became the first African American woman resident at Baylor College of Medicine and the first female president of the National Medical Association. After a successful career in Arkansas, Dr. Jones established a private practice in internal medicine and gerontology in Houston in 1962, settling with her husband and three kids.

Edith worked with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement and was a member of the "freedom four," speaking out across the Deep South at churches and private homes to urge people to join the struggle for justice and equality. Dr. Jones was a trailblazer for over 50 years in medicine and brought healthcare to those most in need and her memory will never be forgotten.

Edith Irby Jones (December 23, 1927-July 15, 2019)