Black History Month
February 2, 2026
Celebrating Black History Month, we would like to spotlight five remarkable individuals from Georgia who have significantly advanced healthcare and technology.
Dr. Georgia Rooks Dwelle was a trailblazing healthcare hero. Born in Albany, Georgia, in 1884, Dr. Dwelle was the first Spelman College graduate to attend medical school. She established the first general hospital, obstetrical hospital, and the first venereal disease clinic for Black people in Georgia.
Dr. Louis Tompkins Wright was a surgeon and activist. Born in LeGrange, Georgia, in 1891, he earned his medical degree from Harvard in 1915. Wright was the first Black surgeon for the NYPD, led an integrated public hospital, and pioneered the intradermal smallpox vaccination. A champion for racial justice in medicine, he also held a key role with the NAACP.
Dr. Mary Logan Reddick was a neuroembryologist born in 1914 in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Spelman College at age 15 and earned a master’s degree from Atlanta University, focusing on fertilized egg development. She later became a biology instructor at Spelman and, in 1939, the first female biology instructor at Morehouse College.
Dr. Louis Wade Sullivan, born in 1933 in Atlanta, Georgia, was a physician and civil rights advocate. He dedicates his career to improving public health in the U.S. He founded the Morehouse School of Medicine and served as Secretary of Health and Human Services, promoting HIV/AIDS prevention and sickle cell treatment
Dr. Roderic Ivan Pettigrew, born in 1951 in Waynesboro, Georgia, graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor’s in physics. He earned a master’s in nuclear science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in applied radiation physics from MIT. In 1979, he received a medical degree in radiology from the University of Miami. Starting his career at Picker International in 1983, he is known for developing a 4D MRI system for the heart.
Learn more:
A Trail Blazed for Racial Equality | ACOG
African American Innovators from Georgia | Atlanta History Center