Gene-Ann Polk Horne

Gene-Ann Polk Horne (October 3, 1926 – January 3, 2015), known professionally as Gene-Ann Polk, was an American physician and hospital administrator, director of pediatric ambulatory care at Harlem Hospital, and a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University.

Gene-Ann Polk Horne
An African-American woman, black hair swept back from forehead, smiling, in 3/4 profile
Gene-Ann Polk, from a 2015 obituary.
Born
Gene-Ann Polk

October 3, 1926
Roselle, New Jersey
DiedJanuary 3, 2015
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Physician, hospital administrator, professor

Early life and education

Gene-Ann Polk was born in Roselle, New Jersey, the daughter of Charles Carrington Polk and Olive Mae Bond Polk.[1] Both of her parents were Howard University alumni; her father was a physician,[2] and her mother was active in Girl Scouting, education, health, and other community activities.[3] Her godmother was physician Myra Smith Kearse, mother of judge Amalya Lyle Kearse.[4] She studied piano and cello in her youth, and was selected for the New Jersey All-State Orchestra twice.[5]

She graduated from Abraham Clark High School in Roselle. She briefly studied music at Howard University, then moved her studies to Oberlin College, where she completed a bachelor's degree in 1948.[6] She earned a medical degree at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1952.[7] She also earned a master's degree in public health at Columbia University.[8]

Career

Polk had a long career at Harlem Hospital, from 1953 when she began her residency,[9] to her retirement in 1994. She was director of pediatric ambulatory care at Harlem Hospital from 1968 to 1975, director of pediatrics from 1975 to 1978, and director of ambulatory care services (1978-1994). She also chaired the Cultural Affairs committee of the hospital's medical board, from 1988 to 1994, and was credited with protecting and restoring the hospital's WPA murals.[10] She was a professor of clinical pediatrics at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1962 to 1994.[11]

Polk was an expert in neonatal drug exposure and established a neonatal transfusion program at Harlem Hospital to address drug dependency in newborns.[12] Polk was an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and helped establish the Susan Smith McKinney Steward Medical Society. In late 2014, she gave an oral history interview for the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine at Countway Library, Harvard University.[5]

Personal life

Gene-Ann Bond married oral surgeon Edwin Clay Horne.[13] They lived in Englewood, New Jersey,[14] and had two children, Edwin and Carol. She died from pancreatic cancer[15] in January 2015, aged 88 years, at her home in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.[16] Her papers are in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.[8][11]

References
  1. Washington, Ethel M. (2004). Union County Black Americans. Arcadia Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-7385-3683-5.
  2. Keller, Karen (2010-02-12). "Black History Month: Roselle doctor, among a handful of black physicians in county, was a community leader". NJ.com: True Jersey. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  3. Boylan, Daryl. "Olive Mae Bond Polk" in The Women's Project of New Jersey, ed., Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women (Syracuse University Press 1997): 380-381. ISBN 9780815604181
  4. "Like-Minded Women Taught Gene-Ann Polk, MD, to Lead". The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. April 26, 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  5. Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, Oral History Table of Contents: Dr. Gene-Ann Polk, M.D., retrieved 2020-06-12
  6. Baumann, Roland M. (2014-07-31). Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-4363-7.
  7. "Gene-Ann Polk: Detail from photograph of class of 1952". Women in medicine and history of homeopathy, Drexel University. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  8. Boyd, Herb (February 6, 2015). "Distinguished Dr. Gene-Ann Polk Horne memorialized". Amsterdam News. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  9. Ashare, Elliott (1979-02-15). "New Post for Dr. Polk". The Record. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Savage, Lauren (Summer 2015). "A Doctor's Living Legacy". Columbia Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  11. "Gene-Ann Polk Harlem Hospital Center files". Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  12. "Gene-Ann Polk". Center for the History of Medicine at Countway Library, Harvard University. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  13. Jones, Ayana (June 24, 2016). "Dr. Edwin C. Horne, 92, notable dentist". Philadelphia Tribune. p. 10B – via ProQuest.
  14. Levin, Jay (2015-01-20). "Dr. Gene-Ann Polk, 88, primary-care pioneer". The Record. pp. L2. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Burling, Stacey (2015-07-03). "Doctor listens to elderly patients' love stories". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  16. Salinger, Tobias (January 27, 2015). "Harlem mourns Dr. Gene-Ann Polk, longtime pillar of hospital, community". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
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