University Of Michigan’s 1st Black Female To Graduate Med School Advocated For Black Health Issues
February 11, 2025
University of Michigan’s first Black female graduate was ahead of her time in advocating for solutions to Black health issues.
More insight is being provided into Sophia Jones’ seminal work detailing Black health issues in the United States over a century ago.
Jones made history in 1885 as the first Black medical graduate from the University of Michigan. Following her graduation, she continued breaking barriers by championing critical issues such as infant mortality, vaccine hesitancy, access to care, and diversity in healthcare. Her advocacy not only shaped the university’s legacy but also had a lasting impact on national healthcare conversations, many of which remain relevant today.
Her 1913 work in “Fifty Years of Public Negro Health” covered topics “that we’re still grappling with today,” Dr. Virginia Sheffield of University of Michigan’s Department of Internal Medicine told MLive.
“She also pushed back against the narrative at the time that this was a problem with a certain group of people, rather than a systemic problem,” Sheffield, who researched Jones for the school’s 175th anniversary, said.
After earning her degree from the University of Michigan, Jones joined Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, becoming its first Black faculty member. She managed the college infirmary and established its nurse training program. Later, she served as a resident physician at Wilberforce University, a private historically Black institution in Ohio. Additionally, Jones maintained a private medical practice in Philadelphia, Missouri, and Kansas.
While researching Jones’ history, Sheffield discovered her 1913 publication, which not only highlighted but also foresaw many of the challenges Black patients continue to face in healthcare today. Jones emphasized the significance of Black doctors and nurses providing care for Black patients and underscored the crucial role of well-trained Black nurses who are “equally active in the reduction of the mortality rate…not only to her own race…but also to the white race.”
Jones also advocated for the importance of immunizations in promoting public health, a stance that Sheffield noted reflected the racial disparities seen with the COVID-19 vaccine. While infant mortality rates have improved since the 1800s, particularly within Black populations, Jones’ work on the issue was remarkably prescient.
“We do still see gaps in outcomes for black patients and parents and babies in the hospital,” Sheffield said.
Jones closed out her 1913 work with an impassioned call for public health education.
“Who fears to face another fifty years with all these forces at work for the permanence of the race? Only the pessimist doubtful of the value of education,” she wrote.
Jones has been commemorated in various ways at the University of Michigan. She and William Henry Fitzbutler, the first Black male graduate, are honored through the Fitzbutler-Jones Alumni Society, which supports students and faculty.
Additionally, the Jones Room in the Michigan Union is named in her honor. Sheffield believes her legacy should be recognized not only for pioneering Black healthcare but also for advancing public health education as a whole.
“A good chunk of her career was dedicated towards educating others, establishing programs for training and taking care of marginalized patients,” Sheffield said.
RELATED CONTENT: 15 White Coats Seeks To Increase Diversity In Medical Schools