Celebrating Black History Month: A Time for Reflection, Renewal, and Recommitment

By Eve Higginbotham SM, MD, ML

As some of you, I spent this month reflecting on the contributions of so many of our African American historical figures and colleagues, who either have preceded us or who work within our ranks, to advance our collective efforts to achieve health equity.  Within the halls of Penn Medicine, we have celebrated the contributions of Helen Octavia Dickens MD (1909 – 2001), Penn’s first African American Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty member and a trailblazer in advancing health equity.  She is now appropriately memorialized on the first floor of Stemmler Hall in an exhibit that highlights several pivotal moments in her extraordinary career, as she was a stalwart advocate for preventive reproductive health for teens and women. Her legacy…