M. E. Thompson Coppin
Melissa Evelyn Thompson Coppin (c. 1878 – September 27, 1940) was an American physician. Coppin was the tenth African American woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. She was also known for the creation of the children's welfare group, the Women's Christian Alliance (WCA).
Biography[edit]
Melissa Evelyn Thompson was born around 1878.[1] When she graduated from the Women's Medical College (now the Medical College of Pennsylvania) in 1900, and she became the tenth African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree.[2][3]
In August 1914, Coppin married African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Levi J. Coppin.[4] Her husband's wedding present to her was a new car, and which the couple used to drive to their honeymoon at Cape May.[4] Melissa Thompson Coppin was Levi's third wife and together, they had one daughter, Theodosia.[5] Levi died in 1924.[5]
After the end of World War I, Coppin felt there was a need to create a place for young African American women and families who were migrating into the city.[2] Coppin founded the Women's Christian Alliance (WCA) as a child welfare agency, daycare and shelter in Philadelphia in 1919.[6][2] Coppin's sister, Dr. Syrene Elizabeth Thompson Benjamin, was involved with WCA until 1927, when the sisters disagreed over the "direction of the agency."[7]
Coppin died on September 27, 1940.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ Beckford, Geraldine Rhoades (2011). Biographical Dictionary of American Physicians of African Ancestry, 1800-1920. Cherry Hill, New Jersey: Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers, Inc. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-937622-18-3.
- ^ a b c Sabbath 2001, p. 25.
- ^ Aptheker, Bettina (1982). Woman's Legacy: Essays on Race, Sex, and Class in American History. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0870233654 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Bishop Marries Baltimore Woman". The Denver Star. 1914-08-15. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Murphy, Larry G.; Melton, J. Gordon; Ward, Gary L. (2013-11-20). Encyclopedia of African American Religions. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-51345-0.
- ^ Sabbath 1994, p. 91.
- ^ Sabbath 1994, p. 92.
- ^ "Deaths". The Journal of the American Medical Association. 115 (18): 1565. November 2, 1940. doi:10.1001/jama.1940.02810440057019 – via Internet Archive.
Sources[edit]
- Sabbath, Tawana Ford (March 1994). "Social Work Services and Social Work Training for African Americans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1900-1930". The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. 21 (1): 84–95. doi:10.15453/0191-5096.2110.
- Sabbath, Tawana Ford (2001). "African Americans and Social Work in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1900-1913". In Carlton-LaNey, Iris B. (ed.). African American Leadership: An Empowerment Tradition in Social Welfare History. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press. ISBN 9780871013170 – via Internet Archive.
- 1878 births
- 1940 deaths
- Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni
- 20th-century American women physicians
- 20th-century American physicians
- Scientists from Philadelphia
- Physicians from Pennsylvania
- African-American women physicians
- 20th-century African-American women
- 20th-century African-American physicians