Zenobia Gilpin Explained

Zenobia Gilpin
Other Names:Zenobia Henderson Gilpin, Zenobia Gilpin Henderson
Birth Name:Zenobia Gustava Gilpin
Birth Date:about 1898
Birth Place:Richmond, Virginia
Death Date:June 11, 1948
Death Place:Richmond, Virginia
Occupation:Physician, clubwoman

Zenobia Gilpin (born about 1898[1] – June 11, 1948) was an American physician and clubwoman, and "one of the best known citizens of Richmond".[2] An African-American physician during the Jim Crow era, she provided medical services to underserved black communities.

Early life and education

Zenobia Gustava Gilpin was born in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of St. James Gilpin and Cordelia A. Reese Gilpin. Her father owned a shoe store.[3] Actor Charles Sidney Gilpin was her cousin.[4] She graduated from Howard University in 1920, and from Howard University College of Medicine in 1923.[5] [6]

Career

Gilpin had a medical practice in Richmond,[7] [8] and organized clinics at Black churches in the city. She was head of obstetrics at Richmond Community Hospital, secretary of the Virginia State Medical Association, and president of the Richmond Medical Society in 1930.[9] [10] She was the first Black woman doctor on the staff of Children's Memorial Clinic.[11] She served on the City Lunacy Commission, and on the board of directors for the Phillis Wheatley branch of the YWCA. From 1936 until her death, she was secretary of the St. Philip Hospital Clinic.[12] She chaired the Richmond chapter of Planned Parenthood.[13] During World War II, she worked in the student clinic at Hampton Institute,[14] presided over a fundraising concert,[15] and organized a nutrition program for Richmond homemakers, to maximize healthy meals under rationing.[16]

Gilpin was active in the NAACP and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was a founding member of the NAACP's Virginia State Conference, and first president of the Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha from 1925 to 1927.[17] In 1932, on her way home from attending the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she was honored in Chicago at a luncheon hosted by fellow Black doctor Lillian Singleton Dove.[18]

Personal life and legacy

Gilpin married educator Welton Hamlet Henderson in 1943. She died in 1948, in her late forties, at her Richmond home. Her grave is located at Woodland Cemetery.[19] A clinic was named in her memory, and more recently, Zenobia's Promise Foundation, founded in 2019 by the Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, was also named in her memory. Her 1938 Bausch & Lomb microscope was displayed at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center in Richmond in 2018.[20]

Notes and References

  1. Although many sources give 1903 as Gilpin's birth year, she was listed in the 1900 Federal Census as a one-year-old, suggesting an earlier date. via Ancestry.
  2. News: 1948-06-18 . Dr. Zenobia Gilpin Dies . 8 . Alabama Tribune . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Book: Meck . Dr Jan . The Life & Legacy of Enslaved Virginian Emily Winfree . Refo . Virginia . 2021-11-01 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-1-4396-7400-0 . en.
  4. News: 1948-06-12 . Dr. Z. G. Gilpin Dies at Home at Age of 44 . 12 . The Times Dispatch . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: Dr. Zenobia Gilpin — Serving Segregated Communities . 2022-05-24 . Virginia Museum of History & Culture . en.
  6. News: June 9, 1923 . 311 Graduates New Mark for Howard University . 9 . Evening Star . May 24, 2022 . NewspaperArchive.com.
  7. News: Flannagan . Roy C. . 1939-05-09 . Move to Cut Illegitimacy; Negro Leaders Suggest Steps to Halt Trend . 1 . The Richmond News Leader . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: November 19, 1932 . Chivalrous? Virginian Keeps Hat On, Woman Doctor Leaves . 18 . Baltimore Afro American . May 24, 2022 . NewspaperArchive.com.
  9. News: March 1, 1930 . Richmond Medical Society Installs Officers . 1 . Richmond Planet . May 24, 2022 . Virginia Chronicle.
  10. News: Anderson . Trezzvant W. . August 1, 1931 . Women Prefer the Woman Physician, Says Dr. Gilpin . 16 . Baltimore Afro American . May 24, 2022 . NewspaperArchive.com.
  11. News: 1934-01-25 . Child Clinic Names Two New Members . 2 . The Richmond News Leader . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: 1940-06-19 . St. Philip Clinic Holds Anniversary . 26 . The Richmond News Leader . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: June 19, 1948 . Dr. Zenobia G. Gilpin, Physician for 22 Years, Given Funeral Rites . 28 . Baltimore Afro American . May 24, 2022 . NewspaperArchive.com.
  14. News: 1942-07-02 . Dr. Zenobia Gilpin to Serve in Clinic . 12 . Daily Press . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: 1942-11-22 . Negroes Plan Concert at Mosque Tuesday . 20 . The Times Dispatch . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  16. Book: Shockley, Megan Taylor . "We, Too, are Americans": African American Women in Detroit and Richmond, 1940-54 . 2004 . University of Illinois Press . 978-0-252-02863-2 . 39–40 . en.
  17. Web site: About Us . 2022-05-24 . Zenobia's Promise Foundation . en.
  18. News: 1932-09-10 . Honor Fair Medic at Pretty Party . 8 . The Pittsburgh Courier . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  19. News: 1948-10-28 . Monument Honors Dr. Zenobia Gilpin . 50 . The Richmond News Leader . 2022-05-24 . Newspapers.com.
  20. Web site: Willis . Samantha . May 23, 2018 . The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia's latest exhibition honors African American entrepreneurs, changemakers and armed forces servicemen . 2022-05-24 . Richmond Times-Dispatch . en.

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