Virginia M. Alexander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Virginia M. Alexander
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| Born | February 4, 1899 |
| Died | July 24, 1949 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania |
| Known for | Founding the Aspiranto Health Home in Philadelphia |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Obstetrics and gynecology |
Virginia M. Alexander (born February 4, 1899 – died July 24, 1949) was an American doctor and public health expert. She is famous for starting the Aspiranto Health Home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This home helped many people get the medical care they needed.
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Virginia Alexander's Early Life
Virginia M. Alexander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 4, 1899. Her parents, Hilliard Alexander and Virginia Pace, were both born into slavery in the US. Virginia had four siblings, including a well-known lawyer named Raymond Pace Alexander.
When Virginia was only four years old, her mother passed away. At age 13, her father's horse riding business closed down. Virginia wanted to leave school to help her family with money. But her father strongly believed she should finish her education.
Virginia Alexander's Education Journey
Virginia went to William Penn High School for Girls. She was a very good student and graduated with high honors. She then received a scholarship to attend the University of Pennsylvania. To pay for her living costs during college, Virginia worked many jobs. She was a waitress, a clerk, and even a maid. She was also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a group for Black women.
Virginia continued her medical studies at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She was very smart. In a medical test for the whole school, Virginia got the second-highest score. Her score was even higher than the school's dean!
It was very hard for students of color at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. An article later said the school was not welcoming to them. Despite these challenges, Virginia worked hard. With help from donations and by working as a clerk, maid, and waitress, she graduated from medical school in 1925.
After medical school, new doctors usually needed to complete an internship. This was required to take the state exam and become a licensed doctor. However, many hospitals in Philadelphia would not accept Virginia for an internship because she was Black. One hospital president even told her, "If you were first among a thousand applicants you would still not be admitted."
The hospital connected to the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania also did not accept her. But the school helped Virginia and another student, Mae McCarroll, find internships. They went to the Kansas City Colored Hospital in Missouri in 1925. Virginia and Mae were the first two women to intern there. Before them, the hospital's rules did not allow women interns. Virginia stayed in Kansas City to complete a special residency in pediatrics (children's medicine) and surgery. She worked at Wheatley-Provident Hospital.
Virginia Alexander's Career and Impact
In 1927, Virginia Alexander returned to Philadelphia. She cared deeply about public health, which means keeping whole communities healthy. But she had to work as a regular doctor to earn money.
Starting the Aspiranto Health Home
In 1930, Virginia Alexander opened the Aspiranto Health Home in her own house. She wanted to help people who needed healthcare but couldn't get it. She also wanted to provide care in a new, different way. Aspiranto offered "socialized" health services to African American people in North Philadelphia. This meant they provided care that was often free or very low cost.
Virginia used the money she earned from her private patients to fund the free care. Aspiranto offered general medical care, care for pregnant women, and emergency services. Most of her patients had low incomes. Because of this, Virginia earned less money than white male doctors in the same area. Her colleague, Helen Octavia Dickens, also worked at the Aspiranto Health Home.
Community Work and Activism
Virginia Alexander was very active in many groups. She worked as a doctor at several hospitals. These included Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital, the Hospital of Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Hospital. She also did administrative work at Convalescent Hospital.
In 1931, Virginia officially became a Quaker. Quakers are a religious group known for their work for peace and justice. Virginia used her connections within Quaker groups to push for better public health for African American patients.
She was also active on the boards of many community organizations. These included Wharton Settlement, the Young Women’s Christian Association, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Within the Quakers, she was part of the Race Relations Committee and the Young Friends Movement.
Virginia taught her white peers about how social and economic issues affected health. She showed them that these problems hurt Black Americans more. In 1935, she began studying health differences between Black and white patients in Philadelphia. She found that Black patients faced many challenges. They lacked places for recreation, were treated unfairly at hospitals, and Black doctors were not allowed to work in many hospitals.
Virginia also found big differences in health outcomes. Black babies died at more than twice the rate of white babies. Black patients died from tuberculosis at over six times the rate of white patients. During this time, Virginia received money from the Rosenwald Foundation. She used this money to start the North Philadelphia Clinical Centre.
During World War II, Virginia volunteered as a public health doctor in Birmingham, Alabama. She worked for the US Department of Health. Most of her patients were iron and coal miners. She also worked as an Ob-Gyn (a doctor for women's health) at Woman's Medical College Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and Pennsylvania Hospital. Later, Virginia taught at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She also became the Physician-in-Charge of Women Students at Howard University.
Public Health Career
The field of public health became very important before World War II. Virginia Alexander was one of the first people to earn a Master's Degree in Public Health. She went to Yale University in 1936 to study public health and earned her degree in 1937. Soon after Yale, she took a job at Howard University. She worked as an assistant university physician for women students.
From 1943 to 1945, Virginia worked with the US Public Health Service. She was at the Slossfield Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. After this, she returned to Philadelphia. She continued her medical practice and worked with local Quakers on race relations.
Virginia Alexander's Personal Life
Virginia Alexander lived with her father in North Philadelphia for most of her life. She never married or had children. She had a relationship with W.E.B. DuBois, who was an editor at The Crisis magazine. He might have written the article that featured her.
Virginia Alexander passed away on July 24, 1949, in Philadelphia. She had been battling lupus for many years. She was buried in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania at Mount Lawn Cemetery.
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Virginia M. Alexander
See also
In Spanish: Virginia M. Alexander para niños
