Dr. Mildred Fay Jefferson was born in 1927 in Pittsburg, Texas - the daughter of a public school teacher, and a Methodist minister. She attended public schools in East Texas and entered Harvard Medical School in 1947 after receiving a B.A degree summa cum laude from Texas College in Tyler, Texas and a M.S. degree from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She lives in the Back Bay Section of Boston.
Dr. Jefferson became the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1951. She was the first woman to be a surgical intern at Boston City Hospital and the first woman admitted to membership in the Boston Surgical Society. She is, however, best known for her longtime support and involvement in the "right-to-life movement" in America. She helped to establish the National Right to Life Committee and served three times as its president. She has been a local, regional and national speaker and activist.
After her Harvard Medical School graduation, Dr. Jefferson served as a general surgeon with the former Boston University Medical Center and Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Boston University Medical School.
Dr. Jefferson has had a career-long interest in medical jurisprudence, medical ethics and the interface between medicine and law, as well as their impact on public policy and society. As a founding member of state and national "right-to-life" organizations, she is president of Right to Life Crusade. She was past president of the National Right to Life Committee for three terms.
Dr. Jefferson is a founding member of the Board of Governors and a past President of the Value of Life Committee of Massachusetts and is also active with the American Life League and Americans United for Life Legal Defense Fund. Dr. Jefferson is also a member of Black Americans for Life and is held in high esteem by Feminists for Life.
Dr. Jefferson is the recipient of many honors, awards, and citations including 28 honorary degrees by American colleges and universities. She has been the subject of numerous magazine and newspaper articles and has appeared on uncounted TV and radio programs including: ABC?s ?World Wide Special? (David Frost), ?Good Morning America?, ?Nightline?, ?Today? (Barbara Walters), ?Tomorrow? (Tom Snyder), ?The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour?, ?Phil Donohue?, ?David Susskind?, and ?Imus?.
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