City Of Fort Worth: Black History Month Spotlight: Dr. Alexander Terrell

Dallas TX

28 February, 2022

4:57 PM

Description

Press release from City of Fort Worth: February 28, 2022 Black History Month, celebrated in February, is a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society, including activists, civil rights pioneers and leaders in industry, politics, science, culture and more. In the spirit of that mission, local Black heroes are being featured in hopes that their stories will inspire you all year long to explore other fascinating change agents. Alexander Bismarck Terrell was born in Fort Worth on Dec. 18, 1885, to Isaiah M. and Marcelite (Landry) Terrell. His father, a schoolteacher in Texas beginning in 1882, later became the principal at a Fort Worth high school and supervisor of the "colored schools" in Fort Worth. His mother was a supervisor of music in a Fort Worth public school and his older brother, Wendell Phillips, graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1906. Terrell attended Fort Worth public schools and then went on to earn his bachelor of science degree from the University of Chicago. He then spent one year at Rush Medical College before completing his medical degree at Harvard Medical School in 1910. During his career, he would practice medicine in Fort Worth from 1912 to 1918 and in Denver for one year before moving to Chicago. While in Chicago, Terrell was in general practice and was an attending physician at Provident Hospital until the 1950s. During this time, he took an 18-month fellowship at the Chest Department of the University of Chicago and Billings Hospital and was a Fellow of the National Medical Association and of the American Medical Association. He died in San Diego, California, on Dec. 4, 1953, of prostate cancer. There are no known photos of Terrell.   Source: Nercessian, Nora N. (2004) Against All Odds: The Legacy of Students of African Descent at Harvard Medical School Before Affirmative Action 1850-1968.       Get articles like this in your inbox. Subscribe to City News.   This press release was produced by City of Fort Worth. The views expressed here are the author's own.