A Trail Blazed for Racial Equality

Georgia Rooks Dwelle, MD, led a life full of firsts: she established the first general hospital for Black people in Georgia, Dwelle Infirmary, which was also the first obstetrical hospital for Black women in Georgia and the first venereal disease clinic for Black people in Georgia; and the first Mothers’ Club, where mothers could receive resources and education in prenatal and postnatal care, for Black women in Georgia. On their own, each of these achievements is impressive; in their context, each of these achievements is astounding.

Dwelle Infirmary was founded in 1906 after Dr. Dwelle moved to Atlanta from Augusta, Georgia. Upon her arrival in Atlanta, she was confronted by the abysmal conditions in which many of Atlanta’s poorest Black residents lived. In the 20 years between 1880 and 1900, Atlanta’s Black population grew from approximately 9,000 to 35,000, making up nearly 30% of the overall population—which then boomed, skyrocketing to 150,000 in 1910. The sudden population growth exacerbated existing racial tensions and prompted Atlanta’s white elite to expand Jim Crow segregation, which reinforced segregation in all areas, including residential areas—a “fundamental cause of race disparities in health and mortality.” Racial inequity suffused every part of society in Atlanta; for Dr. Dwelle, the need for access to equitable care must have been clear.

One of the three Black women physicians in Georgia at the time, Dr. Dwelle believed that medicine was the foremost profession through which one could serve humanity, and one through which she could channel her self-declared “inborn instinct for social work.” Dr. Dwelle argued on several occasions for the need for women to find their own opportunities to participate in medicine—or create them, if need be. Dr. Dwelle’s entire career is a testament to the difference that just one person can make by taking—and making—their own opportunities, exemplifying the potential that women in medicine have to change lives and move the needle toward equitable care for all.

Read more about Dr. Dwelle.

ACOG’s 2024 Women in Medicine Month series, centered around the theme Innovators in Ob-Gyn Equity, highlights women throughout history who have made novel contributions to their patients, their profession, and their community. Read our other Women in Medicine Month stories to learn more.