Edith Jones, who integrated southern medical schools, dies
Posted July 18, 2019 9:36 am.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Dr. Edith Irby Jones, the first black student to enrol at an all-white medical school in the south and later the first female president of the National Medical Association, has died. She was 91.
Jones’ daughter Myra Jones Romain said Jones died Monday of natural causes.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which Jones integrated in 1948, also announced her death in a post on its website Tuesday.
Jones was the first black female resident at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Romain said Jones taught and practiced medicine until her retirement in 2013.
In addition to practicing medicine for 61 years, Jones was also a prominent activist as a member of the “Freedom Four,” encouraging people in Arkansas to join the civil rights movement.
Hannah Grabenstein, The Associated Press
