Massachusetts’ First Black Woman Doctor Was From New Bedford

Dr. Juan Bennett Drummond was the first African American woman licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. No small feat, considering she did it in the 19th century, not long after the end of the American Civil War.

Bennett was born in New Bedford on June 7, 1864, as the Civil War still raged.

The NAACP New Bedford website says, "Dr. Drummond was the daughter of Morris Bennett, who was a native of St. Helena, and Maria McCurry Bennett of Fall River."

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The Associated Press (AP) reported upon her death more than 60 years later that "through her mother, she was descended from Paul Cuffe, negro Patriot of the Revolutionary War."

She married Andrew F. Drummond, whose maternal and paternal ancestry date back to 18th-century New Bedford.

The Historic Women of the SouthCoast website says Juan Bennett Drummond "was a member of the New Bedford High School Class of 1883 and graduated from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1888."

The site says, "Dr. Drummond practiced medicine for 34 years. During the early years of her practice, she took care of patients out of her home. Later, she moved her practice to an office above the old State Theater (now the Zeiterion Theater) on Purchase Street."

Historic Women of the SouthCoast says, "Dr. Drummond was a community activist and one of several women who were instrumental in founding the New Bedford Home for the Aged with Elizabeth Carter Brooks."

Juam Bennett Drummond died on November 4, 1926, at her home at 275 Kempton Street. She was 62.