Robert Tanner Freeman (18461873) was an American dentist. As one of the first six students to attend the

Harvard School of Dental Medicine The Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is the dental school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the DMD degree, HSDM offers specialty training programs, advanced trainin ...

, he became the first African American to graduate with a dental degree in the United States on March 10, 1869. He subsequently practiced dentistry in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Early life and education

Freeman was born near

, in 1846. He was the son of a carpenter who had bought his family's freedom and then moved to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. During his late teens, Freeman worked for a mentor, Dr. Henry Bliss Noble, a white dentist in Washington. Before Freeman was accepted into the Harvard Dental School, now the

, he was rejected by two other institutions because of the color of his skin. The dental school's first dean,

Nathan Cooley Keep Nathan Cooley Keep (1800–1875) was a pioneer in the field of dentistry, and the founding Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Biography Keep was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, on December 23, 1800. Adept with his hands, he became ...

, interviewed him and invited him to become one of the first six students to attend Harvard Dental School. On March 10, 1869, Freeman became the first African American to graduate from that school, also becoming the first African American awarded a dental degree in the United States.

Career

After receiving his DMD ( Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry) degree, Freeman returned to Washington, D.C., to launch a dental practice, establishing himself in the same building as his mentor, Dr. Noble. Fours years removed from graduating and practicing professionally, Freeman contracted an unspecified water-borne disease that resulted in his untimely death on June 10, 1873.

Legacy

The Washington Society of Colored Dentists, established in 1900, renamed itself in 1909 the Robert Tanner Freeman Dental Society in honor of America's first African American dentist. Freeman was the grandfather of

Robert C. Weaver Robert Clifton Weaver (December 29, 1907 – July 17, 1997) was an American economist, academic, and political administrator who served as the first United States secretary of housing and urban development (HUD) from 1966 to 1968, when the depart ...

, the first African American to serve in the U.S. Cabinet, serving under President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

as Secretary of Housing & Urban Development.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Robert Tanner 1846 births 1873 deaths People from Washington, D.C. Harvard School of Dental Medicine alumni American dentists African-American dentists 19th-century dentists