Beulah Melvin Allen

Beulah Melvin Allen (born July 19, 1937) was a Diné physician. In 1952, at the age of 23, she was the first Miss Navajo Nation.[1]

This article is about the Diné physician. For the American nurse and civilian physician, see Beulah Ream Allen.

Life

Beulah Margaret Melvin was born in Eureka, California on July 19, 1937, moving with her family at 18 months old to Fort Defiance, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation.[2][3][4] Her mother was a nurse at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital.[4] In 7th grade, she moved to California and stayed there until she finished high school.[2] In 1952, Melvin was selected as Miss Navajo at the annual Navajo Nation Fair. At the time, the competition was determined by whichever contestant received the largest applause.[5]

Starting in 1954, she attended Barnard College, planning to study there for two years.[6] In 1955, she attended Arizona State College, and in 1956, she spent her junior year at the University of Oregon.[2]

She attended Cornell Medical College in 1958 and 1959, receiving a Navajo Tribal scholarship to attend both years.[7][8][9][10] In 1961, she graduated from The University of Arizona with a bachelors degree in anthropology.[11]

On November 14, 1969, Beulah married Richard N. Allen in Contra Costa, California.[12][13]

She received a fellowship to attend the University of Arizona College of Medicine, graduating around the early 1980s.[14][15]

In 1981, she won the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Merit Award.[14]

References
  1. Krupat, Arnold (2018). Changed Forever, Volume I: American Indian Boarding-School Literature. SUNY Press. p. 325. ISBN 978-1-4384-6916-4.
  2. "Navajo Indian Now UO Coed". The Eugene Guard. 19 December 1956. p. 13A. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  3. "Beulah Margaret Melvin | California Birth Index, 1905-1995". Retrieved 4 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  4. "Beulah Allen to Receive Medical Degree". Navajo Times. May 7, 1981. p. 10. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  5. "Miss Navajo". PBS. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  6. Brown, Tobia (18 October 1954). "First Navajo Here Plans on Nursing". Barnard Bulletin. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  7. Cornell University Medical College Announcement. Vol. 50. Cornell University. p. 112. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. Cornell University Medical College Announcement. Vol. 51. Cornell University. p. 113. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. "Navajo Tribal Group Allocates $168,930 In Funds for '58-'59 Scholarship Awards". Arizona Daily Sun. 21 August 1958. p. 11. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  10. "Tribe Gives 119 Free College Scholarships". The Gallup Independent. 9 September 1959. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. "Indian Education: America's Unpaid Debt. A Compendium Report Covering Calendar Years 1980-1981. The Eighth Annual Report to the Congress of the United States" (PDF). National Advisory Council on Indian Education. June 1982. pp. 49–50. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. "Beulah M Melvin". California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  13. "Beulah M Cremer". California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  14. "Navajo woman honored". Tucson Citizen. 13 August 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  15. "Washington fellowship announced for 18 Indian students from Arizona". Arizona Republic. 15 April 1980. p. B2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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