Joyce Yerwood
Ursula Joyce Yerwood | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1909 |
| Died | October 2, 1987(aged 78) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Known for | Founding the Yerwood Center |
| Relatives |
|
Ursula Joyce Yerwood(January 1909 – October 2, 1987) was the first female African American physician inFairfield County, Connecticut,and founder of theYerwood Center,the first community center for African Americans inStamford, Connecticut.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Joyce Yerwood was born inVictoria, Texas,to Melissa Brown Yerwood and Charles Yerwood.[1]Melissa Yerwood was a teacher and died shortly after Yerwood's birth. Charles Yerwood was a physician, one of fewer than twenty African American physicians in Texas. Charles Yerwood brought Joyce and her sister Connie with him on house calls, which inspired both of them to study medicine.[2]Charles later remarriedAda Simond,who became Joyce's stepmother.[3]
Education
[edit]Yerwood attended the Eliza Dee Home, a finishing school for African American girls. She graduated fromSamuel Huston College,inAustin, Texas,in 1928. With her sister,Connie,Yerwood went on to study atMeharry Medical College,inNashville, Tennessee,where they were the only two female students in their first year.[1]During their time at Meharry, the Yerwoods experienceddiscrimination against women.When they were sophomores, their teacher told them that he did not believe in women doctors.[2]
Yerwood graduated cum laude in 1933. She completed her internship at the Kansas City General Hospital inKansas City, Kansas.[2]She completed her residency inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]Yerwood specialized inpediatrics.[2]
In 1936, Yerwood married Dr. Joseph Carwin, and they moved to Stamford, Connecticut.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1937, Yerwood opened a medical practice inPort Chester, New York,where she treated underserved populations for 18 years. In 1955, she moved her office to Stamford, Connecticut, becoming the first female African American physician in Fairfield County.[4]Over the course of her career, she delivered over 2,000 babies.[2]
Yerwood retired from her practice in 1981. In retirement, she became the medical director of the Methadone Clinic of Stamford's Liberation Program.[1]
Civic engagement
[edit]Yerwood was asocial justiceadvocate, promoting educational and cultural opportunities for African American youth in her community. In 1939, she founded the Little Negro Theater performing arts group. As the group grew, she bought a storefront in Stamford, which became Stamford Negro Community Center in 1943. The center moved to its current location in 1975, and it was renamed the Yerwood Center.[1][5]
Yerwood served as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Union Baptist Church. With her husband, she helped found the Greenwich Chapter of theNAACP.She was also a member of Eastern Star,Alpha Kappa Alphasorority, the Girl Friends, Inc., the Soroptimists Club, the Stamford Medical Society, theNational Medical Association,the Stamford Hospital Corporation, and theWorld Medical Association.[1]
Over the course of her life, Yerwood received the Stamford Mayor's Award, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Heritage Award, and the Hannah G. Solomon Award.[1]
Yerwood was inducted into theConnecticut Women's Hall of Famein 2016.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghi"Joyce Yerwood".CT Women’s Hall of Fame.Retrieved2020-07-29.
- ^abcdeSilverthorne, Elizabeth (1997).Women pioneers in Texas medicine.Fulgham, Geneva (1st ed.). College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Press.ISBN0-585-17514-4.OCLC44957563.
- ^Abigail, R. Matt (16 May 2013)."Simond, Ada Marie DeBlanc (1903–1989)".Texas State Historical Association.Retrieved20 June2024.
- ^Winegarten, Ruthe (1996).Black Texas women: a sourcebook: documents, biographies, timeline.Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN0-292-79092-9.OCLC33162753.
- ^"1987: Dr. Joyce Yerwood, community leader, physician and inspiration, dies".StamfordAdvocate.2012-10-01.Retrieved2020-07-29.