Dr. Edith Irby Jones is best known as the first Black student admitted to the University of Arkansas Medical School. She is also the first woman elected as president of the National Medical Association.
She was born Edith Mae Irby on December 23, 1927 in Conway, Arkansas. Illness struck her family early, leading to the loss of her father and sister at a young age. These tragedies inspired Jones to seek a career in medicine to care for families who, like hers, lacked the means to seek adequate care.
After moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas, Jones entered Knoxville College in Tennessee on a scholarship. With assistance from the NAACP and local organizations, she continued her studies at Northwestern University in Illinois and then the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1948.
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