Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953. Dr. John A. Somerville (standing, right), with three standing men and three seated women in a patio or back yard.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f11_016.tif ark:/21198/z14x6rxx
Subject
African American civil rights workers African American businesspeople African American dentists Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973
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