Optometry at the Intersection of Gender, Race and Class in the Early Twentieth Century The Exemplary Life of Bess Coleman, O.D.
Main Article Content
Abstract
This biographical study of Dr. Bess Francis Coleman profiles the experience of an African American woman in the early twentieth century, employing a critical lens to explore how race, gender and class shaped her life and career, and the methodology of microhistory to draw out the ways in which her life exemplifies and signifies the essential work of African American women professionals during this era. Dr. Bess “Bessie” Anderson Francis Coleman (1893-1967) was the first documented African American woman licensed to practice optometry in the United States. A native of Kentucky, Dr. Coleman’s first career was as a schoolteacher in her native Harrodsburg. In 1923, she married pharmacist John B. Coleman, Jr. The Colemans moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1923, and then Chicago, Illinois in 1925 where they opened a chain of pharmacies in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Dr. Coleman received her training at the Northern Illinois College of Optometry from 1932-1934. In 1935, she moved back to Kentucky with her son, where she cared for her elderly parents and opened the only optometry practice in Lexington’s Brucetown neighborhood, well-known for its African American physicians. In 1942, she retired to Denver, Colorado’s African American enclave, Whittier. She died in 1967 and was buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in her hometown.
Downloads
Article Details
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. By submitting to Hindsight: Journal of Optometry History, the author grants to the journal the non-exclusive right to
reproduce, translate (as defined below), and/or distribute your submission worldwide in print and electronic format
and in any medium, including but not limited to audio or video.
2. The author agrees that Hindsight: Journal of Optometry History may, without changing the content, translate the
submission to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation.
3. The author agrees that Hindsight: Journal of Optometry History may keep more than one copy of this submission for
purposes of security, back-up, and preservation.
4. The author represents that the submission is his/her original work, and that s/he has the right to grant the rights
contained in this agreement. The author also represents that his/her submission does not, to the best of his/her
knowledge, infringe upon anyone's copyright.
5. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's
published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or a website or publish it in a book), with
an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.