Josie English Wells
Born
Josephine English

1876
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Died20 March 1921
Nashville, Tennessee
EducationMeharry Medical College, 1904
Occupation(s)Physician, activist
Employer(s)Fisk University; Meharry Medical College

Josie English Wells (1876-20 March 1921)[1][2] was an African American physician and one of three women to graduate from Meharry Medical College in 1904.[3][2] She was the first female faculty member at Meharry,[4] and the first woman of any race to open a private practice in Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

Life

Josephine English was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1876 to Berry English, a freedman and carpenter,[5] and his wife Eliza.[2][3]

In her earlier life, English worked as a nurse.[2] She married George Wells, a Latin professor at Rust College, and the couple had a daughter, Alma.[2][3] Soon after her birth in 1896, George Wells died, leaving Josie a single parent.[2] Josie Wells then moved to San Antonio, Texas, in order to lead a nursing program at a hospital there.[2] This was led by Dr. G.J. Starnes, a graduate of Meharry Medical College, who likely saw Wells' potential.[2]

Wells entered Meharry's four-year medical program in 1900.[3][1] She graduated in 1904, one of three women graduates.[1]

Following graduation, Wells established a clinic for women and children that served the whole community, regardless of race.[5] Hers was the first private practice in Nashville opened by a woman.[3] Wells held free clinics families of limited means, and became the campus physician at Fisk University.[1][3] In addition, she was the first woman on the Meharry Medical College faculty, and played an active role in fundraising for Hubbard Hospital, to which her sister Mary was also a donor.[3][2] Wells was secretary of the George W. Hubbard Hospital Association.[6][7] She became its superintendent in 1912, though she had effectively "had charge" since it opened in 1910.[2][1][3]

In 1907, she was appointed physician in charge for the Nashville Day Homes' Club, established to provide food and education for children left at home while their parents went to work.[7][8]

As well as her professional work, Wells was active in the wider community.[1] During the First World War, she was part of the executive committee of the Colored Unit of the Women's Council of Defense, and actively supported women's suffrage.[1] Wells' daughter, Alma, married John T. Givens, a scholarship in whose name is awarded annually to a student in the School of Medicine.[2]

Death and legacy

Josie English Wells died on 20 March 1912.[2] She was buried in Nashville's Greenwood Cemetery.[2]

In 2022, a historical marker was erected to commemorate Wells by The Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County.[1] Efforts for the plaque were spearheaded by Sandra Parham, library executive director at Meharry Medical College.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Dr. Josie E. Wells Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Morris, Ken (2022-01-04). "Historical city marker in the works for Meharry's first female faculty member". Meharry Medical College. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Benkarski, Ashley (2022-05-26). "Dr. Josie E. Wells: Trailblazing Meharrian Honored With Historical Marker". The Tennessee Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  4. ↑ Webster, Raymond B. (1999). African American firsts in science & technology. Internet Archive. Detroit : Gale Group. ISBN 978-0-7876-3876-4.
  5. 1 2 3 Clark, Seyna. "Meharry Medical College unveils new historical marker to honor Dr. Josie E Wells". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. ↑ "Meharry Medical College : a history / by Charles Victor Roman". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  7. 1 2 Neverdon-Morton, Cynthia (1989). Afro-American women of the South and the advancement of the race, 1895-1925. Internet Archive. Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-583-0.
  8. ↑ Notable Black American women. Internet Archive. Detroit : Gale Research. 1992. ISBN 978-0-8103-4749-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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