Joycelyn Elders, 16th Surgeon General of U.S.
by Logan Snook
When Joycelyn Elders was appointed the first African-American woman appointed as the U.S. Surgeon General, she took the bull by the horns. Elders controversial views on sexual education and drug legalization caused for a tempestuous time in office, and she resigned from the post after only 15 months. While the controversy of her viewpoints severely affected her political career, Elder’s told CNN in a 2005 interview: “If I had to do it all over again today, I would do it the same way.”
Elders was born in rural Arkansas in 1933. She was one of 8 children who lived in a home with no running water, and from the age of 5, split her time working picking cotton with her siblings and attending a segregated school 13 miles away. Elder’s never met a doctor until she attended college, which inspired her to study Biology. This is where everything took off.
After graduating from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1952, she worked as a nurse’s aid in a Veterans Administration hospital in Milwaukee. In 1953, she joined the Army, where she spent 3 years training as a physical therapist. After leaving the army, Elder’s enrolled at the University of Arkansas Medical School, where she earned her M.D. degree in 1960, completed an internship at the University of Minnesota Hospital, and held her residency in pediatrics at the University of Arkansas Medical Center. She later went back and completed an M.S. in Biochemistry in 1967.
Elder’s has remained close to the University of Arkansas Medical Center for most of her career. In 1967 she joined faculty as an assistant professor in pediatrics, where she was promoted to professor in 1976. During her time here, she became increasingly interested in endocrinology, and became the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology in 1978, and became an expert on childhood sexual development.
In 1987, then-Governor of Arkansas bill Clinton appointed her as head of the Arkansas Department of Health, where she mandated a K-12 curriculum covering sexual education, substance-abuse awareness, and promoting self-esteem in children and teenagers. She nearly expanded sexual education, doubled the rate of immunizations for toddlers, and dramatically increased the number of early childhood screenings. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her as Surgeon General, where she continued to advocate for health and sexual education in schools, and promoted universal health coverage.
Because of these outspoken and controversial views, primarily on sex education, Elder’s was highly criticized by conservatives which led to her resignation after only 15 months in office. She returned to the University of Arkansas Medical Center as professor of pediatrics.
Now retired from University of Arkansas Medical Center, Elder’s is still working to improve public health education in the U.S. You can learn more about her in her autobiography, Joycelyn Elders, M.D.: From Sharecropper’s Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America.