HBCUs – Go Retire Psychiatrist

In keeping with Iowa History Month 2024, you can have a look at the Iowa State University website “African and African American Studies Research Guide.”

Iowa State University happens to be my alma mater, or in a way, one of them. I took my Bachelor’s degree there and later graduated from The University of Iowa College of Medicine.

There is a wealth of information worth browsing on the ISU website devoted to the history of black people in Iowa. In fact, I found out a few of those connections were to Huston-Tillotson University (HT-U, an HBCU) in Austin, Texas, where I spent several semesters in the 1970s before later transferring to ISU.

The connections between HT-U and Iowa go way back into the history of that school. It started as Tillotson College in 1875, which is where some of the ISU black students also later worked as faculty. The list includes notable scholars:

Ada M. Deblanc-Yerwood: After graduation from ISU, she became head of Home Economics at Tillotson College. She was also co-founder of the George Washington Carver Museum in Austin, Texas. She also had an interesting perspective on retirement. She didn’t, and pursued other positions. Her answer to why she didn’t retire: “Old is a state of mind. When you do nothing, you become nothing. The need to be productive—give life to something—doesn’t automatically stop at age 65 or 70.”

Dr. Samuel P. Massie, Jr.: Dr. Massie went to ISU in 1941 to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He had to hitchhike to campus because there was no housing for Black students within 3 miles. Dr. Henry Gilman at ISU assigned him to work full time as a research assistant on a special assignment connected to the Manhattan Project (the top-secret effort to build an atomic bomb). President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to a Chemistry professorship at the U.S. Naval Academy. He distinguished himself as a scientist in many HBCUs (Fisk, Howard University, North Carolina College, and others) and elsewhere despite the racism that tried to hinder him. In 1981, ISU gave him the highest award—the Distinguished Achievement Citation.

Dr. Frederick Douglass Patterson: He was a brilliant student and he attended Samuel Huston College (see history of Huston-Tillotson College at link above). He also attended ISU, graduating with a DVM in 1923. In his book, Chronicles of Faith, he wrote: “In the veterinary program, I did not feel odd being a part of the group of students working in the veterinary clinic although I was the only black person there. The absence of animosity encouraged me to see veterinary medicine as a field in which I could practice without being hampered by the racial stereotypes and obstacles that would confront me as a medical doctor, for example. I found the teachers of Iowa State helpful whenever I approached them. Educationally, it was a fine experience.” He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan in 1987. He was President of Tuskegee Institute and transformed it into a university. He also founded the United Negro College Fund.

The United Negro College Fund was part of the reason I was able to attend Huston-Tillotson University. And it’s connected to the history of Iowa.

I came across a couple of items that prompted my renewed gratitude. One of them was an article in Bloomberg on the web, “US Medical Schools Grapple With First Admissions Since End of Affirmative Action” by Richard Abbey, Ilena Peng, and Marie Patino, published on December 14, 2023. It’s about how hard it is for black students to get into and graduate from medical school. Just getting to college is a major hurdle.

The other item is an obituary of one of the most important persons in my life, Pastor Robert Leroy Stone. He authorized scholarships for two years of my undergraduate college education, which were at Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University, one of the HBCUs) in Austin, Texas. That was back in the 1970s, ancient history now. The issue of Affirmative Action was widely discussed during that time.

As usual, I’m dumbfounded by how often I miss the passing of the critically important people who made my success in life possible. And there is this astonishing connection which followed me even to Iowa City—but of which I was unaware. After he retired, Pastor Stone moved from Mason City to Iowa City in November of 2001. At that time, I had graduated from The University of Iowa College of Medicine, finished my residency in psychiatry in 1996, and was on staff in University of Iowa Dept of Psychiatry. I never knew he was so close. He died in 2002.

Pastor Stone was a Board Member and Chair of the Mason City YMCA, where I lived for a while. He was also a Member of the Board of Chemical Dependency Services of North Iowa as well as the Mental Health Center of North Iowa.

Although I didn’t graduate from Huston-Tillotson College, I was able to transfer credit to Iowa State University. And from there I went to medical school at The University of Iowa.

I’ve read other stories about how hard it is for Black students to get into and finish medical school. My path was indirect and not easy, but Pastor Stone made it possible. And for that, I am grateful.