Monroe Alpheus Majors (October 12, 1864 – December 10, 1960)"Majors, Monroe Alpheus"
TSHA (

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

). was an American physician, writer and civil rights activist in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He was one of the first black physicians in the American southwest and established a medical association for black physicians who were not allowed entry into the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

. He wrote a noted book of biographies of African-American women, '' Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities'', published in 1893, and wrote for numerous African-American newspapers, notably the ''

Indianapolis Freeman The ''Indianapolis Freeman'' (1884–1926) was the first illustrated black newspaper in the United States. Founder and owner Louis Howland, who was soon replaced by Edward Elder Cooper, published its first print edition on November 20, 1884. H ...

'', of which he was an associate editor in 1898 and 1899, and the '' Chicago Conservator'', which he edited from 1908 to 1910. He was the father of composer

Margaret Bonds Margaret Allison Bonds (March 3, 1913 – April 26, 1972) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her po ...

Early life

Monroe Alpheus Majors was born in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

, in 1864, the son of Andrew Jackson Majors and Jane Barringer. In 1869, they moved to

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas,Russel, Thaddeus, "Majors, Monroe Alpheus", in Appiah, Anthony, and

Henry Louis Gates Jr Henry Louis Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950), popularly known by his childhood nickname "Skip", is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of t ...

(eds), ''Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience'', Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 694–696. where Majors went to

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

schools. He attended college at West Texas College, Tillotson Normal and Collegiate Institute, and Central Tennessee College. He then attended

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first m ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, graduating in 1886.

Career

Majors then moved back to Texas to practice medicine, working in Brenham,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and Calvert. He was the first African-American doctor in Calvert. In 1886, he established the Lone Star State Medical Association for African-American physicians, as an alternative to the

which restricted black membership. In 1888, he moved to Los Angeles, where he lectured at the Los Angeles Medical College. He was the first African American to pass the California Board of Medical Examination. Majors was also active in civil rights, first in Texas and later in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He edited the ''Los Angeles Western News'', where he advocated for African-American appointment to civic positions. In 1889, Majors married Georgia A. Green, who was from Texas, and in 1890 they returned to Waco, where he practiced medicine and taught at

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a private historically black Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River ...

. He also edited a paper, the ''Texas Searchlight'', raised money for the building of a hospital, and opened the first black-owned drugstore in the American Southwest. In 1893, Majors published ''Noted Negro Women''. He wrote the book mainly to show the accomplishments of black women, but also to express the "progress" of African Americans since the end of slavery in the 1860s. He also began writing for various national African-American newspapers, particularly the ''

''. In 1898, he moved to

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. In Illinois, his life was threatened due to his writings against lynching, particularly that which occurred in Decatur shortly before he arrived, and he fled to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

where he became an associate editor of the ''Freeman''. In 1899, he returned to Waco, but death threats forced him to return to the north, and he moved to Chicago in 1901. He continued practicing medicine, and in Chicago he also wrote for many newspapers, notably '' The Broad Ax'', ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'', '' The Washington Bee'', '' The People’s Advocate'', and '' The Colored American''. From 1908 to 1910 he edited '' The Chicago Conservator''.

Later life and family

In 1889, Majors married Georgia A. Green, and they divorced in 1908. In 1909 he married Estelle C. Bonds, and he later married twice more. A daughter of Majors and Estelle was Margaret Allison, who became a noted composer. When Bonds and Majors divorced in 1917, Margaret's mother changed her last name from Majors to Bonds.Walker-Hill, Helen, ''From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and their Music'', University of Illinois Press, 2007, p. 141. In the 1920s, Majors began to lose his eyesight and was forced to curtail his work. He largely retired from medicine in 1923. In 1933, he moved back to Los Angeles, where he died aged 96 in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majors, Monroe Alpheus 1864 births 1960 deaths 20th-century African-American people Activists for African-American civil rights African-American journalists African-American physicians African-American writers Editors of California newspapers Editors of Illinois newspapers Editors of Texas newspapers Journalists from California People from Los Angeles People from Waco, Texas Physicians from California Physicians from Illinois Physicians from Texas