213:, becoming its first African-American woman graduate in 1926. Upon graduation, Chinn found that no hospital would allow her practicing privileges because African Americans were not permitted to participate in hospital residencies and research posts at New York hospital clinics. The Rockefeller Institute had seriously considered her for a research fellowship until they discovered that she was black. With her fair skin and last name, many assumed that she was white or Chinese. Harlem Hospital was the only medical institution in the city that offered Chinn an internship. Chinn was the first African-American woman to intern there and to accompany paramedics on ambulance calls. She confronted another obstacle when the hospital refused her practicing privileges there. She later told
217:, former president of the Society of Black Women Physicians, that black workers snubbed her because they assumed she was passing as white, and did not want to jeopardize her position. Chinn established a private practice instead, seeing patients in her office and performing procedures in their homes. This experience prompted her to earn a master's degree in public health from
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professor at the college. By her senior year of undergraduate, Chinn worked in a clinical pathology lab as a laboratory technician. She graduated from
Columbia Teachers College in 1921 and continued working in the lab. However, Chinn's love for music never died as she continued to teach piano lessons
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Despite not finishing high school due to poverty, Dr. Chinn took the entrance examination to
Columbia Teachers College, matriculating in 1917. Chinn initially studied music but changed her major to science after interacting with a racist music professor and getting praise for a scientific paper. Her
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In 1944, the Strang Clinic hired Chinn to conduct research on cancer, and she remained there for the next 29 years. The
Society of Surgical Oncology invited her to become a member, and in 1975, she established a society to promote African-American women to attend medical school. She maintained her
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of the jaw, Chinn moved back to New York for surgery. Living with the white
Tiffany family, Chinn was exposed to classical music and taught German and French. After the Tiffany family estate was sold due to the death of Charles Tiffany, Chinn and her mother returned to
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Ware, Susan, and Stacy
Lorraine Braukman, eds. Notable American Women: Completing the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2004. Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000 Database.
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Fee, Elizabeth. Changing the face of medicine: Celebrating
America's women physicians. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 2004.
148:. He escaped slavery at the age of 11. Her mother, Lula Ann Evans, was born in 1876 in Norfolk, Virginia. She was an African American descendant of the
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in 1933. In 1940, Harlem
Hospital granted Chinn admitting privileges, in part due to Mayor
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Warren, Wini. Black women scientists in the United States. Indiana
University Press, 1999
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in honor of a friend, Chinn collapsed and died on
December 1, 1980, aged 84.
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where she resumed her education at a public school and took piano lessons.
144:. Her father, William Lafayette Chinn, was enslaved from birth in 1852 in
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private practice until the age of 81. While attending a reception at
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Women in
Science: A selection of sixteen significant contributors
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Merry Maisel; Laura Smart (1997). "May Edward Chinn: Physician".
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tribe. Lula Ann Evans worked as a housekeeper on the estate of
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New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni
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to younger children and worked as an accompanist to
112:(April 15, 1896 – December 1, 1980) was an American
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82:Teachers College, Columbia University (B.S., 1921)
368:, eds. (2000). "Chinn, May Edward (1896-1980)".
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372:The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science
84:Bellevue Hospital Medical College (M.D., 1926)
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542:Teachers College, Columbia University alumni
225:'s push for integration in the wake of the
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100:First African-American woman graduate of
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140:, on April 15, 1896, and was raised in
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499:May Edward Chinn Biography (1896-1980)
312:Celebrating America's Women Physicians
177:scientific aptitude was recognized by
474:. The San Diego Supercomputer Center.
209:Chinn proceeded to study medicine at
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211:Bellevue Hospital Medical College
122:Bellevue Hospital Medical College
102:Bellevue Hospital Medical College
532:American primary care physicians
527:20th-century American physicians
376:. New York: Routledge. pp.
138:Great Barrington, Massachusetts
52:Great Barrington, Massachusetts
325:Smith, Jessie Carney. (1996).
193:Chinn was an active member of
190:for four years in the 1920's.
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412:"May Edward Chinn: Physician"
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16:American physician (1896–1980
327:Notable black American women
290:Resources in other libraries
271:Resources in other libraries
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445:"A Healing Hand in Harlem"
285:Resources in your library
266:Resources in your library
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537:Bordentown School alumni
132:Early life and education
120:woman to graduate from
71:New York City, New York
308:"Dr May Edward Chinn"
199:Eslanda Goode Robeson
116:. She was the first
279:By May Edward Chinn
240:Columbia University
227:Harlem Riot of 1935
223:Fiorello La Guardia
219:Columbia University
150:Chickahominy people
450:The New York Times
158:Charles L. Tiffany
146:Manassas, Virginia
136:Chinn was born in
329:. Gale Research.
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366:Joy Harvey
246:References
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154:Algonquin
114:physician
92:Physician
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254:about
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35:Chinn
396:Web.
341:OCLC
331:ISBN
60:Died
45:Born
39:1917
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