In 1943, Marjorie Peebles-Meyers earned her medical degree as the first African-American woman to graduate from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. She spent her life as a pioneer, conquering many obstacles and receiving many honors for her outstanding accomplishments.
Dr. Peebles-Meyers died from a stroke at Detroit Receiving Hospital on Dec. 26, 2001, at age 86.
The Harlem native announced in 1928 that she wanted to become a doctor and then set out to fulfill her dreams. She graduated from Hunter College in New York City with a bachelor of arts and completed her master's degree in psychology at Columbia University. She attended Howard University Medical School, but transferred to WSU after two years.
In 1947, she completed her residency in internal medicine and was among the first Detroit doctors to establish an interracial private practice with the late Dr. Eugene Shafarman. She was the first African-American woman accepted as an intern at Detroit Receiving Hospital and the first black woman to become its chief resident.
Dr. Peebles-Meyers also was the first African-American woman to receive a teaching appointment at the WSU School of Medicine, where she served as clinical associate professor in the Department of General Medicine.
From 1977 to 1985, Dr. Peebles-Meyers was the first woman and first African American to serve as chief physician for Ford Motor Co. at the World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.
The Michigan State Medical Society elected her to its AMA delegation, making Michigan the first and later one of few states to have an African-American woman on its delegation.
She received many honors, including being named a Distinguished Warrior by the Detroit Urban League; Michigan's Outstanding Physician by the Michigan State Medical Board; and a member of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1986. Newsweek magazine also profiled her as one of 100 notable Americans, an honor the humble physician tried to downplay. In 2000, the Wayne State University School of Medicine recognized her as one of its inaugural Pathfinders in Medicine.
From Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Alum Notes, Volume 13, No. 1
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