Myra Smith Kearse
A young African-American woman, in an oval frame.
Myra Lyle Smith, from the 1917 yearbook of Howard Academy.
Born
Myra Lyle Smith

May 18, 1899
Lynchburg, Virginia
DiedFebruary 14, 1982 (1982-02-15) (aged 82)
Vauxhall, New Jersey
ChildrenAmalya Lyle Kearse
ParentT. Parker Smith

Myra Smith Kearse (May 18, 1899 – February 14, 1982) was an American physician and community leader in New Jersey.

Early life

Myra Lyle Smith was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, the daughter of T. Parker Smith and Clara Alexander Smith. Her father was an educator, and founded a business college in Richmond. Her mother was also an educator.[1]

She graduated from Howard Academy in 1917,[2] earned a bachelor's degree at Howard University in 1922,[3] and was the only woman in the 1925 graduating class[4] of the Howard University College of Medicine.[5] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®.[6]

Career

Kearse was the first African American woman physician in Union County, New Jersey when she began to practice there in 1938.[6] She joined the staff of a Newark hospital during World War II.[7] She held a patent on a "pocket calendar device with punch means" for tracking one's menstrual cycle.[8] She retired from medical practice in 1966.[5]

In 1964,[9] Kearse and Vera Brantley McMillon began collecting and sharing oral histories of African-American life in New Jersey, to mark the state's tercentenary; their work culminated in the publication of Negroes of New Jersey, 1715-1967: A Bibliography.[10] She served on the executive committee of the Union County Anti-Poverty Council,[11][12] until she retired from the council in 1970.[13] She was a founding member of the county's College Women's Club.[14]

Personal life

Myra Lyle Smith married Robert Freeman Kearse, postmaster of Vauxhall, New Jersey.[15] They had a son Robert A. Kearse, and a daughter Amalya Lyle Kearse, who became a federal judge.[16] Her god-daughter, Gene-Ann Polk Horne, was a noted pediatrician at Harlem Hospital for many years.[17] The Myra Smith Kearse Community Center in Union County, and a scholarship fund, were named in her honor.[18] She died in 1982, aged 82, from a heart attack at her home in the Vauxhall section of Union Township, Union County, New Jersey.[7][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Clipped from Winston-Salem Journal". Winston-Salem Journal. 12 October 1911. p. 7.
  2. ↑ Crescat Scientia (Howard Academy Yearbook, 1917).
  3. ↑ The Morgue (Howard University College of Medicine yearbook, 1925): 68.
  4. ↑ "Love is Urged as Life Guide for Graduates at Howard U." Evening Star. 1925-06-06. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (1977-11-16). "Black Women M.D.'s: Spirit and Endurance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  6. 1 2 "Kearse, Myra Smith". AKA's Pioneering Sorors Open Doors. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  7. 1 2 The Women's Project of New Jersey Inc (1997-05-01). Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women. Syracuse University Press. pp. 222, 336. ISBN 978-0-8156-0418-1.
  8. ↑ Kearse, Myra Smith. "Pocket Calendar Device with Punch Means" U.S. Patent application filed May 10, 1956; patent number US2868293A, granted January 13, 1959.
  9. ↑ "Negro-History Group Adopted". The Record. 1965-02-13. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Afro-American Culture: Historical Meeting Topic". The Montclair Times. 1975-02-20. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Poverty War Aide Sought". The Courier-News. 1966-04-29. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "City Lawyers to Serve on Poverty Unit". The Courier-News. 1967-07-10. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Dinner Scheduled". The Courier-News. 1970-04-10. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Washington, Ethel M. (2004). Union County Black Americans. Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7385-3683-5.
  15. ↑ "He's Postmaster". The Afro American. August 30, 1941. p. 12. Retrieved June 12, 2020 – via Google News.
  16. ↑ United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary (1980). Selection and Confirmation of Federal Judges: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 124.
  17. ↑ Savage, Lauren (Summer 2015). "A Doctor's Living Legacy". Columbia Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  18. ↑ "Union Students Offered Aid". The Courier-News. 1970-08-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  19. ↑ "Obituary for Myra L. KEARSE". The Courier-News. 1982-02-16. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.
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