(November 28, 1878 – March 20, 1921)
from The Greenwood Project
When Josie Wells graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1904, she was both the first female graduate of Meharry and the first practicing female physician in Nashville, black or white. Previously trained as a nurse, she became superintendent of Mercy Hospital’s nurses’ training program (which later moved to Meharry), as well as general physician for Walden University. She was the first woman to teach at Meharry, also becoming the first female to hold a position of leadership there after being appointed superintendent of Hubbard Hospital (now Nashville General Hospital). A specialist in the diseases of women and children, Wells encouraged other young women to study medicine. Two afternoons a week she provided free medical treatment to patients who could not pay. During World War I she helped found the Tennessee Colored Women’s chapter of the National Council of Defense. When she died at age 42 after a brief illness, the Journal of the National Medical Association praised her many accomplishments.
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The Greenwood Project is a series of 160-word biographies of individuals who lie at rest in Mt. Ararat and Greenwood cemeteries, two historic African American burial grounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The project, which began in September 2014 (and is still available on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064806156276), shares the stories of more than 300 consequential individuals, primarily African American, who changed the course of city, state, and national history through their words and deeds. (All biographies were written by Kathy Lauder unless otherwise noted.)
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