Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations. 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. Drs. Vada and John Somerville (standing, center) with others at a gathering in the backyard of their home at 2014 Virginia Road, where the Somervilles lived from 1952 to at least 1962.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_021.tif ark:/21198/z1709jht
Subject
African American civil rights workers African American businesspeople African American dentists Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973 Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972
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