Gertrude Curtis

Gertrude Elizabeth Curtis (March 1, 1880 – August 3, 1973), also known as Gertrude Curtis McPherson, was an American dentist. She had a longtime practice in Harlem.

Gertrude Curtis
The face of a young African-American woman.
Gertrude Curtis, from a 1910 newspaper.
Born(1880-03-01)March 1, 1880
DiedAugust 3, 1973(1973-08-03) (aged 93)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesGertrude Curtis McPherson (using 1st husband's legal surname)
OccupationDentist
Spouse(s)Cecil Mack
Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson

Early life and education

Curtis was from Bradford, Pennsylvania,[1] the daughter of Stephen Curtis and Agnes Elizabeth Curtis. Her father was a barber. She graduated from the New York College of Dental and Oral Surgery in 1909,[2] becoming the first black woman to gain a dentistry license in New York State.[3]

Career

Soon after completing her dental education, Curtis ran a weekly dental clinic at Bellevue Hospital.[3] She had a dental practice in Harlem for many years.[4][5]

Curtis was active in politics and civic organizations.[6][7] She served as a delegate to the 1918 Republican State Convention in Saratoga,[8] and represented the Roosevelt Colored Women's Republican Club at the 1920 Republican National Convention in Chicago. She was president of the Business and Professional Women's Club in Harlem in 1932.[9] She was a member of the NAACP, spoke at the YWCA and Mother Zion Church on health topics,[10] and helped to raise money for the Sojourner Truth Home for Wayward Girls.[11] She was active with the Harlem Experimental Theatre.[12]

Curtis was also involved in her musician husband's work. She helped with publicity for a special midnight performance of Shuffle Along in 1921, a benefit for the NAACP.[13] She accompanied a show on its European tour in 1923, and directed a choir during another show's tour in Europe in 1929[14] and 1930.[11]

Personal life

Curtis married "Charleston" composer Cecil Mack (Richard Cecil McPherson) in 1912; she was widowed when Mack died in 1944.[1][15] In 1946,[16] she became the fourth wife of dancer Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson, who was the widower of Florence Mills.[17] She died in 1973, aged 93 years.[11][18]

References
  1. "Widow of Noted Composer Former Local Resident". Bradford Evening Star and The Bradford Daily Record. August 4, 1944. p. 12. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Negro Woman Dentist". The New York Age. June 10, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Negro Dentist Practices at Bellevue Hospital". The New York Age. February 3, 1910. p. 7. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Sager, Kate Day. "Bradford native, Dr. Gertrude Curtis, was a pioneering black female dentist" Olean Times Herald (February 2, 2019).
  5. "Tribute Paid to Dr. McPherson: Testimonial Given for Dentist Finishing 25-Year Career Honored". The Chicago Defender. April 21, 1934. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
  6. "Negro Transplanting to be Celebrated". The New York Age. October 26, 1918. p. 2. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Active Workers of Joint Campaign Meet". The New York Age. November 6, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Elect Four Women to G. O. P." The Chicago Defender (August 3, 1918): 5. via ProQuest.
  9. "Dentist" The Chicago Defender (May 14, 1932): 6. via ProQuest
  10. "Campaign for Health in Greater New York". The New York Age. March 18, 1915. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Traweek, Alison. "Biography of Dr. Gertrude Elizabeth Curtis, 1880-1973" Biographical Database of Black Woman Suffragists Alexander Street 2016.
  12. Braconi, Adrienne Macki (October 31, 2015). Harlem's Theaters: A Staging Ground for Community, Class, and Contradiction, 1923-1939. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-3226-9.
  13. Egan, Bill (2004). Florence Mills: Harlem Jazz Queen. Scarecrow Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-8108-5007-1.
  14. "Dr. Gertrude McPherson Back Home from Abroad". The New York Age. September 7, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Cecil Mack Dies at 61". The Pittsburgh Courier. August 12, 1944. p. 13. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Finger, Mary E. (August 31, 1946). "By Way of Mention". The New York Age. p. 4. Retrieved June 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Holt, Nora. "Dr. Curtis Weds Slow Kid" New York Amsterdam News (August 31, 1946): 1.
  18. Gates (Jr.), Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (2009). Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 483. ISBN 978-0-19-538795-7.
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