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
Gertrude Curtis, from a 1910 newspaper.
BornMarch 1, 1880
DiedAugust 3, 1973
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]

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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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