Edith Irby Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edith Irby Jones
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| Born |
Edith Mae Irby
December 23, 1927 near Conway, Arkansas
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| Died | July 15, 2019 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Years active | 1952–2019 |
| Known for | First African-American student to attend a racially mixed class in the Southern United States (1948) |
Edith Irby Jones (December 23, 1927 – July 15, 2019) was an amazing American doctor. She made history as the first African American student to attend classes with white students at the University of Arkansas Medical School. This was a big deal because it was in the Southern United States, where schools were often separated by race.
She was also the first African American to graduate from a medical school in the South. Later, she became the first black intern in Arkansas and at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Jones was also the first woman to lead the National Medical Association. She helped start the Association of Black Cardiologists. Many awards honored her work, including being put into the University of Arkansas College of Medicine Hall of Fame. She was also one of the first women in the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
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Early Life and Education
Edith Mae Irby was born on December 23, 1927. Her family lived near Conway, Arkansas. Her childhood was quite tough. When she was eight, her father passed away. An older sister died at age 12 from typhoid fever. Edith herself got sick with rheumatic fever as a child.
These difficult experiences made her want to help others. She especially wanted to help people who were poor or didn't have good medical care. This inspired her to become a doctor. Her mother moved the family to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Edith graduated from Langston Secondary School in 1944.
College and Medical School
Edith won a scholarship to Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee. There, she studied science subjects like chemistry and biology. She felt it was important to help the black community. Her teacher helped her get the scholarship. Also, people in the local African-American community collected money for her. The black press, like the Arkansas State Press, ran campaigns to raise funds for her tuition.
While in college, she secretly worked with the NAACP. She helped recruit new members for the organization. She earned her bachelor's degree from Knoxville College in 1948. Then, she took a special course at Northwestern University to get ready for medical school.
Breaking Barriers in Medical School
In 1948, Edith was accepted into the University of Arkansas Medical School. This was a huge moment! She was part of a class that included both black and white students. This made headlines all over the United States. Newspapers and magazines from New York to Oregon shared her story.
Magazines like The Crisis, Life, Ebony, and Time featured her. Even The Washington Post wrote about her. She was the first African American to be accepted into any school in the Southern United States with white students. Even though she was admitted, she still faced unfair treatment. For example, she had to use separate places for housing and eating.
During her second year, Edith married Dr. James B. Jones. He was a professor at the medical school. They had three children together. In 1952, Dr. Jones earned her Doctor of Medicine degree. She was the first African American to graduate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She then became the first African American to complete a residency at a hospital in Arkansas.
Medical Career
After graduating, Dr. Jones worked as a doctor in Hot Springs for six years. In 1959, she and her family moved to Houston, Texas. This was because of tensions in Arkansas over the Little Rock Nine event.
In Houston, she became the first black woman intern at the Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals. Because hospitals were still segregated in Texas, she finished her last three months of residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C..
Helping the Community
In 1962, Dr. Jones opened her own medical practice in Houston. It was in a part of the city called the "third ward." She wanted to help people there who couldn't easily get medical care. That same year, she became the chief of heart care at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Houston. She also became an associate chief of medicine at Riverside General Hospital.
In 1963, she started teaching as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. She kept learning too. She took more courses at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1965. She also studied at the Cook County Graduate School of Medicine in Chicago in 1966.
Leadership Roles
Dr. Jones was a leader in the medical field. In 1964, she was elected as the second vice president of the National Medical Association (NMA). This group supports African American doctors. In 1975, she became the first woman to lead the NMA's Council on Scientific Assembly. Ten years later, she made history again. She was elected as the first woman president of the entire NMA. Dr. Jones also helped train new doctors at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Civil Rights Activism
Dr. Jones was very active in the civil rights movement. She was a founding member of a group called Physicians for Human Rights. She also served on the board of the Houston Independent School District. In 1974, she helped start the Association of Black Cardiologists.
She worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to fight for equal rights. She was part of a group known as the "Freedom Four." This group traveled across the South. They spoke in homes and churches, encouraging people to join the civil rights movement. Dr. Jones was the only doctor and the only woman in the group. The other members were lawyers: Floyd Davis, Bob Booker, and Harold Flowers.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Jones received many awards for her important work. In 1969, she was honored by the Houston Chapter of Theta Sigma Phi for her achievements in medicine.
In 1986, the City of Houston declared "Edith Irby Jones Day" in her honor. In 1988, the American Society of Internal Medicine named her Internist of the Year. She also helped start Mercy Hospital in Houston. She was one of the doctors who owned and developed Park Plaza Hospital.
Throughout her life, Dr. Jones earned many honors. She received honorary doctorates from several colleges. These included Missouri Valley College (1988), Mary Holmes College (1989), Lindenwood College (1991), and Knoxville College (1992). In 1998, Memorial Hospital Southeast named its outpatient center after her.
In 2001, she received the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award. This award recognized her volunteer and community service. In 2004, she was inducted into the University of Arkansas College of Medicine Hall of Fame. US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee nominated Dr. Jones as a Local Legend for the United States National Library of Medicine.
In 2015, she was part of the first group of women inducted into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. The Texas House of Representatives also praised her for her service that same year. Two international hospitals are named after her. These are the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Clinic in Vaudreuil, Haiti, which she helped create in 1991. The other is the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Emergency Clinic in Veracruz, Mexico.
Death
Dr. Jones passed away at age 91 on July 15, 2019, in Houston. She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
