Genre: Portrait photographs / Subject Topic: African American dentists - UCLA Library Digital Collections Search Results

Description:: Group portrait of 25 members of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, with Dr. Vada Somerville (seated, 4th from left), and possibly Florence Cole-Talbert (seated 4th from right).
Date:: [1930s (?)]
Resource Type:: still image
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description:: 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.
Date:: October 16, 1962
Resource Type:: still image
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.
Date:: [1950s]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Crile Studios (Phoenix, Ariz.)
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.
Date:: [1950s-1960s]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Smith, Irving C.
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description:: Dr. Vada Somerville (standing, right) with five other women at an event.
Date:: [circa 1960]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Rothschild Photo (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description:: Studio portrait of Dr. Vada Somerville wearing a fringed, embroidered shawl over her dress, standing in front of a velvet drapery panel.
Date:: [1920s]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: California Studio
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description:: Adlai Ewing Stevenson was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, noted for his intellectual demeanor, eloquent public speaking, and promotion of progressive causes in the Democratic Party. He received the Democratic Party's nomination for president in the 1952 and 1956 elections.
Date:: [1950s]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Smith, Irving C.
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.
Date:: [1950s (?)]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: McLain's Photo Service (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description:: Marian Anderson, contralto, holding a bouquet of roses in her dressing room, posing with six other women, including Vada Somerville (3rd from right).
Date:: [1940s]
Resource Type:: still image
Photographer:: Atlas Photo by Charles (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Collection:: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

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