Myra Smith Kearse (May 18, 1899 – February 14, 1982) was an American physician and community leader in New Jersey.

Early life

Myra Lyle Smith was born in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, the daughter of

T. Parker Smith Theodore Parker Smith was a leader at business colleges in the U.S. He ran Smith's Business College in Lynchburg, Virginia. Early life Smith was a Missouri native, graduated from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in 1888 and married Clara Alex ...

and Clara Alexander Smith. Her father was an educator, and founded a business college in Richmond. Her mother was also an educator. She graduated from Howard Academy in 1917, earned a bachelor's degree at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 1922, and was the only woman in the 1925 graduating class of the

Howard University College of Medicine The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D ...

. She was a member of the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

sorority.

Career

Kearse was the first African American woman physician in

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a County (United States), county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, seventh-most-populous county

when she began to practice there in 1938. She joined the staff of a Newark hospital during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She held a patent on a "pocket calendar device with punch means" for tracking one's

menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eg ...

. She retired from medical practice in 1966. In 1964, Kearse and Vera Brantley McMillon began collecting and sharing oral histories of African-American life in New Jersey, to mark the state's tercentenary; their work culminated in the publication of ''Negroes of New Jersey, 1715-1967: A Bibliography''. She served on the executive committee of the Union County Anti-Poverty Council, until she retired from the council in 1970. She was a founding member of the county's College Women's Club.

Personal life

Myra Lyle Smith married Robert Freeman Kearse, postmaster of Vauxhall, New Jersey. They had a son Robert A. Kearse, and a daughter

Amalya Lyle Kearse Amalya Lyle Kearse (born June 11, 1937)Goldstein, Tom. "Amalya Lyle Kearse; Woman in the News", ''The New York Times'', June 25, 1979. is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a wo ...

, who became a federal judge. Her god-daughter, Gene-Ann Polk Horne, was a noted pediatrician at Harlem Hospital for many years. The Myra Smith Kearse Community Center in Union County, and a scholarship fund, were named in her honor. She died in 1982, aged 82, from a heart attack at her home in the Vauxhall section of

Union Township, Union County, New Jersey Union Township is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In the 18th century, the area that is now Union was then called Connecticut Farms. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 59,728, an ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kearse, Myra Smith 1899 births 1982 deaths Howard University College of Medicine alumni 20th-century African-American physicians 20th-century American physicians People from Union Township, Union County, New Jersey Alpha Kappa Alpha members People from Lynchburg, Virginia