May Edward Chinn

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception


WOMEN

National Women's History Museum

She never graduated high school, as the daughter of the live-in housekeeper for the Tiffany family of Tiffany & Co and Tiffany glass, May Edward Chinn grew up with the culture and education of the Tiffany children. Her lack of a high school diploma did not deter Chinn from registering at the Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1917, where she majored in science. 

Chinn became the first African-American woman to graduate from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1926, and the first African-American woman to intern at Harlem Hospital. After her internship, Dr. Chinn was forced to open private practice because no hospital would allow her to practice. Chinn worked with underserved populations, often in the late stages of terminal illnesses like cancer. Chinn was known for her advocacy for early cancer detection through Pap smears and genetic history.