#HiddenFigures: Dr. Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson (Patreon)

#HiddenFigures: Dr. Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson

Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson (1864 – 26 April 1901) was an American physician who in 1891 became the first female African-American doctor in Alabama. In 1886, Johnson married Charles Dillon and the couple had a child before her husband's sudden death. A widow at 24, Johnson returned to live with her family and decided to enter medical school. After three years of study at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, she earned her M.D. in 1891, graduating with honors. Around the time of her graduation, African-American educator Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, had written to the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania to request a nomination for a teaching position he had been struggling to fill for four years. He hoped to find an African-American physician to serve the school and its surrounding community. Johnson accepted Washington's offer of US$600 a month, including lodging and meals, and arrived to begin her service in August 1891. Before beginning her new job, however, young Dr. Dillon had to face a significant obstacle: passing the Alabama State Medical Examination. The very fact that she was sitting for the examination caused a public stir in Montgomery, Alabama. She spent ten days taking the exam, addressing a different area of medicine each day. Her examiners included the directors and leading figures of most of the state's major medical institutions. Dillon impressed them with her responses and she passed the test. Dr. Dillon was the first woman to practice medicine in the state of Alabama. #HiddenFigures #HalleTannerDillonJohnson ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Twitter: @seren_sensei Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'Dr. Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson:' https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_172.html Halle Tanner Dillon: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3925 Johnson, Halle Tanner Dillon (1864–1901): http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnson-halle-tanner-dillon-1864-1901 DR. HALLE TANNER DILLON JOHNSON - FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN PHYSICIAN IN THE STATE OF ALABAMA: https://blackthen.com/halle-tanner-dillon-johnson-first-african-american-woman-physician-in-the-state-of-alabama/ 'Who was Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson?' https://buildnationblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/who-was-halle-tanner-dillon-johnson/ Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halle_Tanner_Dillon_Johnson