Francis M. Kneeland (born 1873) was an American
physician. She was one of the first
African American women doctors working in
Memphis, where she had a practice located on
Beale Street.
Biography
Kneeland was born in 1873 in
Memphis, Tennessee.[1] When she was young, she was
orphaned, though she continued to live with her family and even helped raise her younger siblings.[2][3] In 1898, she was an honors graduate of
Meharry, a
medical school for
African Americans.[2] Kneeland established her practice in Memphis on
Beale Street by 1907.[2] She was one of the only black women doctors practicing in the city at the time.[2][3][4] Kneeland also worked with the
University of West Tennessee, where she was the head instructor in the nursing program in 1923.[2][5][1] Kneeland also help rehabilitate
juvenile delinquents and girls living in poverty who were sent to her by the Juvenile Court Judge,
Camille Kelley.[1]
Kneeland was involved in the
Baptist church in various leadership roles.[6][7] Later in life, she moved to
Chicago to live with relatives.[2]
^
abcdefJenkins, Earnestine (1997). "Kneeland, Francis M.". In Hine, Darlene Clark; Thompson, Kathleen (eds.). Black Women in America: Science, Health, and Medicine. Vol. 11. New York: Facts on File, Inc. pp. 94–95.
ISBN0-8160-3425-7.
OCLC35209436.