Frances Jones Bonner (1919 - December 27, 2000) was an American psychoanalyst.

Early life and education

Frances Estelle Jones was born in 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were David Dallas Jones and Susie Pearl Willams. Bonner's family moved to

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

in 1926 when her father became President of

Bennett College for Women Bennett College is a private historically black liberal arts college for women in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1873 as a normal school to educate freedmen and train both men and women as teachers. Originally coed, in 1926 i ...

. Her mother worked as an administrator at

Bennett College Bennett College is a private university, private historically black colleges and universities, historically black liberal arts college, liberal arts Women's colleges in the Southern United States, college for women in Greensboro, North Carolin ...

. After graduating high school, Bonner enrolled at Bennett College. She was very active in school activities and played on Bennett's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team. During her undergraduate tenure in 1937, Bonner led a protest and boycott of the downtown Greensboro movie theaters because of the depictions of black women in film. Her advisors during this protest were R. Nathaniel Dett and future college President

Willa Beatrice Player Willa Beatrice Player (August 9, 1909 – August 29, 2003) was an American educator, college administrator, college president, civil rights activist, and federal appointee. Player was the first African-American woman to become president of a four ...

. After graduating from Bennett College in 1939, she went on to study abroad for a one year. Upon returning, Bonner was accepted to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

medical school where she graduated in 1943. She trained as a

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and ...

, completing her training in 1949.

Career

After completing her neurology training at Boston City Hospital, Bonner was hired at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

in 1949 becoming the first African American woman to train and to become a faculty member at the hospital. During her time at MGH, she became the first winner of the Helen Putnam Fellowship from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

. She worked at MGH for 50 years.

Death and legacy

Bonner died on December 27, 2000.HighBeam
Dec. 28, 2000 Massachusetts General Hospital named the Frances J. Bonner, MD Award after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Frances Bennett College alumni Boston University School of Medicine alumni African-American psychologists American psychoanalysts American social scientists 1919 births 2000 deaths 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century American psychologists