1990's Medicine and Health | Elders, Joycelyn 1933-

SURGEON GENERAL

Sharecropper's Daughter, Joycelyn Elders (Minnie Joycelyn Jones) was the first African American and woman to serve as U.S. Surgeon General, She was born 13 August 1933 in Schaal, Arkansas, into a sharecropping family. Her mother believed that the only way her children could succeed was through a good education, Even with the heavy chores that Elders and her siblings did, they were not permitted to neglect their schoolwork. Elders graduated as the valedictorian of her high-school class and received a full-tuition Methodist scholarship to Philander Smith College. She then served a stint in the U.S. Army Women's Medical Specialist Corps (1953-1956). In 1956 she entered the University of Arkansas Medical School with funding from the GI Bill She graduated in 1960 with a specialty in pediatrics and then became a professor at the University of Arkansas Medical School.

Public Service in Arkansas.

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