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. 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. Drs. John and Vada Somerville standing beside a car parked on a residential street.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f03_009a.tif ark:/21198/z1s4893h
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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