Dr. Vada Somerville, circa 1950s

Item Overview

Title

Dr. Vada Somerville, circa 1950s

Alternative title

Dr. Vada Somerville, dentist

Photographer

Alexander, Elson

Date Created

[circa 1950s]

Date

1950/1960

Collection

Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Notes

Description

Studio portrait of Dr. Vada Somerville.
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.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Keywords

Genre

Portrait photographs

Names

Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972

Resource type

still image

Subjects

African American civil rights workers
African American dentists