Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders
Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders was born in 1933 in a very rural, poverty-stricken area of Arkansas. Both of her parents were farmers, and from the age of 5, Dr. Elders and her seven younger siblings had to juggle their education with working in cotton fields. After graduating from high school, Dr. Elders received a scholarship to the all-black Philander Smith College in Little Rock. While she excelled in chemistry and biology, it wasn’t until she heard a talk by Edith Irby Jones, the first African American to attend the University of Arkansas Medical School, that she realized becoming a physician was a possibility. After graduation, Dr. Elders joined the Army where she trained as a physical therapist, before enrolling at the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1956. She went on to specialize in pediatrics and as a full professor, her combined clinical practice and research led her to be an incredibly strong advocate for adolescents. As the head of the Arkansas Department of Health, she lobbied for mandated sex education and programs to promote self-esteem in schools, and almost doubled childhood vaccinations. In 1993, she was appointed U.S. Surgeon General by President Bill Clinton, making her the first African American and only the second woman to head the U.S. Public Health Service. In this role, she continued to be an outspoken advocate for sex education, but loud criticisms to her progressive policies led to her early resignation and she returned to the University of Arkansas as a faculty researcher and professor of pediatric endocrinology. The public health policies introduced by Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders changed the conversation about adolescent health in America, and even now in retirement, Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders makes appearances on TV and podcasts to continue her advocacy.
Dr. M. Joycelyn Elder’s Autobiography “Joycelyn Elders: From Sharecropper's Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America.“
Recent Interview of Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders on the Podcast SexEd: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sex-ed/id1440228794?i=1000470734898
A Britannica Article about Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joycelyn-Elders
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