Black Dental Pioneers Honored at Event
From left, Dr. Vincent Tsiagbe, student Steven Vassell, Dr. Rosa Chaviano-Moran, student Olivia Ike, Director of Enrollment and Academic support, Latoia Taylor and Dr. Herminio Perez.
Staff, faculty and students paid tribute to three African-American dental pioneers for Black History Month.
They honored American's first Black dentist, Robert Tanner Freeman, Jessie Gideon Garnett, Boston's first Black woman dentist, and Earl Renfroe, America's first Black orthodontist who is also considered the father of orthodontics in Brazil.
They succeeded despite many institutions that refused to admit Black students in the Jim Crow era and racist assumptions that they were inferior. Many were barred from treating white people but managed to build thriving practices treating Black patients.
Freeman's father was a carpenter who bought his family freedom from slavery. Born in 1846, he graduated from the Harvard School of Dentistry in 1869, becoming the first Black man to earn a dental degree, said student Steven Vassell, who gave a presentation on Freeman. Freeman established a successful practice but died at the age of 36, Freeman died of a waterborne disease. Vasell noted achieved such a monumental milestone in his short life. "There are a few things about him that stood out to me,'' said Vassell. "One was that despite anyone's circumstances, that doesn't need to limit your potential and that it doesn't mater how short your life is, you can still make a great impact.''
Student Olivia Ike gave a presentation on Garnett, Boston's first Black woman dentist, who received her degree from Tuft's Dental School in 1869. "When she was admitted, the dean thought they had made a mistake,'' said Ike. "She was also told, 'you'll have to find your own patients,' to which she replied, "That's fine with me.'' Garnett worked at her own practice until
Dr. Earl Renfroe was America's first Black orthodontist who was the also the first Black person in America to chair an orthodontics department. Born in Chicago in 1907, He received his DDS from the the University of Illinois in 1931 and his certificate in orthodontics in 1947 after earning his aviator's license and becoming a general in the National Guard, said Dr. Herminio Perez, who presented facts about Renfroe's life. He became well-known as an authority on orthodontics in Brazil.
One RSDM staffer Dr. Thomas Cangialosi, chair of the Department of Orthodontics, developed a special appreciation for Renfroe's work after becoming an ardent follower of his publications and teachings. Renfroe is known for developing certain orthodontic appliances that are hugely influential in the field, said Cangialosi. When he learned more about the obstacles Renfroe overcame, and his achievements outside of dentistry, he was in awe. "I couldn't conceive of a guy who was that smart, doing what he was able to do and experiencing so much prejudice."
