Dorothy Lavinia Brown

Dorothy Lavinia Brown (7 January 1914 to 13 June 2004), known as Dr. D., was an African-American surgeon, legislator and teacher. She was the first female surgeon of African-American ancestry from the Southeastern United States. She was also the first African-American woman to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly, elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where she fought for women's rights and for the rights of people of color. In 1956 she became the first single woman in Tennessee to be granted the right to become an adoptive parent. The source summary used for this entry is short, so her surgical training and clinical career are not detailed here.