Dr. Vada Somerville at a gathering of the Links chapter in Phoenix, 1950s

Title: Dr. Vada Somerville at a gathering of the Links chapter in Phoenix, 1950s
Alternative title: Somerville community activities (1)
Photographer: Crile Studios (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Date Created: [1950s]
Date: 1950/1960
Collection: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description: 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. Vada Somerville (wrapped in a striped blanket) among a gathering of the Phoenix chapter members of the Links, with seventeen women in Spanish-style dress, seated in a living room. An American Indian style textile is on the carpet in the center of the group.
The Links, Incorporated, is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. The membership consists of nearly 15,000 professional women of color in 287 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.
Caption: Photographer's stamp on back of photo: For Additional Prints / Order by This Number / Crile Studios / 715 N. Central Phone 3-1345 / Phoenix, Arizona. Handwritten: For De. Vada Somerville