October 15 marked the 14th anniversary of the passing of Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Pro-Life pioneer, the first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, and my friend.
I first met Dr. Jefferson or Dr. J when Dan Edmonds, a conservative activist from Sharon, MA, asked me if I would drive Dr. Jefferson to an event. I picked her up at the S and S Deli in Cambridge to bring her to a meeting being held in a town on Boston’s South Shore. She had a mind like a GPS for someone who didn’t drive. She preferred to be driven by men who looked like they “can handle themselves.” This was the beginning of a friendship. Not only would I have the honor to drive her around Greater Boston on an irregular basis, but I also sponsored a number of speaking engagements for her.
She was a brilliant woman, beautiful inside and out, and a born diplomat. She laughed at all of my jokes. She rarely had an unkind word to say, even about her opponents, and being a Pro-Life pioneer, she had her share. She did once refer to left-Wing activist Molly Yard As “ugly old Molly.” In addition to her Pro-Life activism, she was knowledgeable on world affairs, economics, and the U.S. Constitution. Among her friends was Congressman Larry MacDonald, whose plane was shot down by the Soviets in 1983, General George S. Patton IV, and Phyllis Schlafly. Our common friend and homeschool pioneer Sam Blumenfeld once told me that Dr. Jefferson was the most brilliant person he ever knew. Dr. Jefferson helped Ronald Reagan change his position on the abortion issue.
Dr. Jefferson told me that while she was born in the segregated South, she never experienced racism. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School but she would tell people that she didn’t attend the school to be its first Black woman to graduate. She didn’t like to be referred to as “Black. “I am a Negro and proud of it.” she would tell me. “I don’t need the like of Jesse Jackson to tell people what to call me.” When she first graduated from Harvard, she explained, “Every time I sneezed, reporters would cover it, but when they learned I was a conservative Republican, they ignored me.”
I read a recent bio of her which said that she was discriminated all her life implying that it was racism discrimination. It was ideological discrimination.
In December of 1995, I sponsored a speaking engagement at the Hyde Park (Boston) Library on the subject of the jury system. This was in the wake of the O.J. Simpson trial when some demanded an end to the jury system. She believed O. J. was innocent but supported the jury system. We had a couple of left-wing activists show up to cause trouble, but they were no match for Dr. J. A reporter from a local paper covered the event, and the headline read: “Right and Left Square Off at the Hyde Park Library.” But it was just two left-wing White women who took exception to a Black woman who wouldn’t toe the leftist line.
On several occasions, she ran for the U.S. Senate from her adopted state of Massachusetts but was not liked by what we used to call Rockefeller Republicans, now known as RINOS. She was, however, loved and admired by all who came to know her. Long-time Boston City Councilor Democrat Thomas “Dapper” O’Neil, who attended many functions with Dr. Jefferson, would jokingly say to her, “I am still available.” Dr. Jefferson was married to naval officer Shane Cunningham. They divorced, and they didn’t have any children. She was the only child of Rev. Millard Jefferson, a Methodist minister, and Guthrie Jefferson, a schoolteacher.
In the Spring of 2010, Dr. J called me to ask if I would become a delegate to the Massachusetts Republican Convention and support businessman Christy Mihos for Governor, who was running against Charlie Baker. I joined the local Republican Party committee in the West Roxbury section of Boston and was chosen to be a delegate. At the convention, Dr. Jefferson gave an impressive speech endorsing Christy, but Baker easily got the nomination. That summer, Dr. Jefferson spoke at our annual family camp on the subject of Obamacare. As always, her message was well received. While she seemed to be in good health, it appeared to me that she had aged since I last saw her.
On September 17th of that year, I was attending a Constitution Day celebration at the Massachusetts State House. Dr. Jefferson was one of the scheduled speakers and I was supposed to pick her up at the S and S Deli. I called to tell her was on my way. She said that she was not feeling well but “will be there in spirit.” This was out of character for Dr. J. In the years that I knew her, she never canceled a speaking engagement. This will be the last time we spoke. She passed away a little less than a month later.
There were two memorial services for her. One at a Catholic Church in Watertown, MA and the other at Harvard University. While they were well-attended, only a few Black people were on hand. There were plenty of her volunteer drivers at the Watertown service. When I asked who drove her the furthest, a man told me “I drove her from Boston to Saint Louis, but I made a number of detours along the way.” All the men had servants hearts and, like me, were honored to have the privilege of driving her. One of her more regular drives, my good friend Bill McNally would say, “I am driving Miss Daisy today.”
In 2018, a learned that a forthcoming movie Roe v Wade was under production and Dr. Jefferson’s character will be played by actress Stacey Dash. The Massachusetts Citizens for Life hosted Stacey at their annual dinner held in Norwood, MA . I got a chance to briefly meet Stacey at the dinner and have since become friends with her.
Thanks to the efforts of Attorney Mike Parker and Sharon Jones of Carthage, Texas, Dr. Jefferson’s hometown, a bust of Dr. Jefferson, along with a historical marker, was placed in Anderson Park in February of 2018. My wife and I recently had the chance to visit Carthage and view the bust and marker which – reads:
Dr. Mildren Faye Jefferson
Dr. Mildren Faye Jefferson was born in 1926, was reared in Panola County, and graduated from Carthage Public Schools. Dr. Jefferson was a trail blazer and is a nationally recognized leader of the Right-to-Life movement, serving three terms as president of the National Right Committee of which she was a founder. She graduated summa cum laude from Texas College in Tyler, and in 1951 became the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Jefferson served as a general surgeon with the former Boston University Medical Center, and as Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Boston University’s Medical School. Dr. Jefferson’s purpose in life is best explained in her own words: “I am not willing to stand aside and allow the concept of expendable human lives to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged, and the planned have the right to life.” Dr. Jefferson passed away in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Camp Constitution’s motto is “Honoring the Past….Teaching the Present…Preparing the Future.’ We will always honor the memory of this amazing and courageous women.
