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. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian and civil rights activist best known for starting a private school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida. She also was appointed as a national adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of what was known as his Black Cabinet. Mary Mcleod Bethune wearing a corsage and seated at a banquet table with D. John A. Somerville.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_040a.tif ark:/21198/z1rv25vc
Subject
African American women politicians African American dentists African American civil rights workers Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973 Bethune, Mary McLeod, 1875-1955
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