Jessie Katherine Garnett

Jessie Katherine Garnett (née Gideon) D1919 was the first black woman to graduate from the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1919. Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1897, she and her family moved to Boston eleven years later, settling first in Boston, and then moving to Roxbury in 1913. Garnett attended Girls’ High School and the Tufts Dental School. When she attempted to register for classes, the dental school dean reportedly said her admittance was a mistake. Jessie Garnett was, however, insistent, going so far as to bring her acceptance letter with her as proof that she belonged at Tufts. Although ten other women enrolled in the dental school with Garnett, she was the only woman to graduate in her class. She was also the only Black student enrolled at the dental school during her time there.

Although Garnett had defied multiple odds simply by graduating from Tufts Dental School, she successfully combatted further discrimination in opening her own dental practice on Tremont Street. According to Garnett's daughter, Ella, her first few patients were too poor or too desperate to go to other established dentists, and one early patient supposedly said “you really are a dentist” when Garnett successfully helped him with tooth pain. However, by the 1940s, Garnett's practice was large and successful enough that she purchased a house at 80 Munroe Street in Roxbury, and moved her practice to a building on the property. She was one of the few women in the neighborhood to have a profession, let alone an advanced degree.

Garnett was a leader beyond the dental world. During World War II, her home became a popular meeting place for the famous 366th Infantry Unit, the first segregated unit to have Black officers. Due to racist practices at local hospitals, the city of Boston also paid Garnett to use her house as a rehabilitation and convalescent home for Black patients; as many as 16 patients would stay at the 80 Munroe Street property following surgeries and procedures at city hospitals. On top of providing medical and dental services to Black residents, Garnett worked with the Boston chapters of the NAACP and the Urban League and served in leadership positions at the YWCA and the historic St. Mark's Congregationalist Church. She also helped found the Psi Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first Black sorority in the United States, in 1926. Pledges and members recalled Garnett as a mentor, teacher, and excellent cook; she would make cod cakes and blueberry dumplings for chapter meetings.

Jessie Garnett passed away in 1976 at the age of 79. Following her death, the Psi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha established a scholarship in her name. In 2009, the Heritage Guild honored her as a Black Boston resident of historical significance. A plaque outside 80 Munroe Street celebrates her life and achievements and is part of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail

Biography written and researched by Alejandra Garcia and Sari Mauro and updated by Cat Rosch.

Vertical File Collection. Vertical files, G. Garnett, Jessie (Jessie Katherine Gideon) D1919. UA073.007.VF.00101. Tufts University. Tufts Archival Research Center. Medford, MA.

Neal, Anthony W. "Dr. Jessie K. Garnett: The first black woman to practice dentistry in the Hub," The Bay State Banner, 19 May 2016. Web. 27 Sept. 2018 https://www.baystatebanner.com/2016/05/19/dr-jessie-k-garnett-the-first-black-woman-to-practice-dentistry-in-the-hub/