A recent discovery that Dr. Marjorie Peebles-Meyers, a stalwart in Detroit’s medical history, was born in Harlem fortifies the link between these two Black communities. Okay: Harlem is an historic section of New York City, and Detroit is a city; even so, there are vital links between them, and Peebles-Meyers provides us an opportunity for our weekly column.
She was born on Oct. 6, 1915; attended Hunter High School for the academically gifted; and at the age of 12, declared her dream to become a doctor. Her father was a postal clerk and her mother a seamstress. She graduated in 1937 after earning a degree in physics and chemistry. In 1938, she earned a master’s degree from Columbia University, and later accepted enrollment at Howard University’s medical school.
In 1939, she married the Rev. Frederick Meyers, who was appointed rector of St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Detroit. She used a hyphenated name, she later recounted, to retain her parents’ name, since she was an only child. Her husband’s appointment made it possible for her to transfer to Wayne State University’s medical school in 1940. Three years later, she became the first African American woman to receive a medical degree from the college. Almost immediately upon graduation, she was accepted into an internship and residency program at the Detroit Receiving Hospital, making her the first Black woman in that program.
An outstanding student and intern, Peebles-Meyers was appointed chief resident at the Detroit Receiving Hospital in 1946, another first for this distinguished Black female doctor. Soon, she was honored by being the first of her race and gender to receive a teaching position at the Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine, mainly as clinical assistant and clinical associate professor in the Department of General Medicine.
In 1947, she partnered with Dr. Eugene Shafarman to form the first interracial medical practice in the city. Patients were generally allowed under the white doctors and then transferred to her for treatment.
She retired from private practice in 1977, but not from a medical career, and was later appointed chief physician for the Ford Motor Company World Headquarters and the Ford Credit Company, a position she would hold until 1985.
Her 40 years of practice were reflected in numerous awards and citations; most prominently, being named Michigan’s Outstanding Physician in 1968 and seven years later, receiving the WSU School of Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award. Other recognition came from the Detroit Urban League in 2000 and the Pathfinders in Medicine Award from the WSU School of Medicine. She died in 2001.
When the Richard J. Mazurek Medical Education Commons opened in 2009, the Marjorie Peebles-Meyers, MD Atrium was dedicated posthumously in her honor. Her image is among the medical groundbreakers portrayed in Detroit’s Black Bottom Mural. She was named a “distinguished warrior” by the Detroit Urban League and one of America’s 100 “unsung heroes” by Newsweek magazine.