Josie Rogers was an American physician and politician. She was the first female physician in Daytona Beach and the first woman to be elected mayor of a city in Florida in 1922, only two years after women gained the right to vote in elections in the state.[1] Known as Dr. Josie, she practiced medicine for 50 years, serving both black and white residents of her lifelong hometown.[2] She was related Clemence Lozier, another pioneering female physician and suffragette, who was the cousin of her great grandmother.[3]
Personal life
editBorn in 1876 to David and Julia Rogers, Rogers lived her entire life - except for her years in university and medical training - in Daytona Beach, Florida, which was incorporated as a city the year that she was born.[2] Following her graduations from Alfred University in Alfred, New York and Hahnemann Medical School in Chicago, the young Rogers returned to Daytona Beach and became actively engaged with the community.[2] Rogers was a suffragette, helping to organize the area's League of Women Voters and the Palmetto Club, a woman's club still active to this day.[2] The majority of her accomplishments revolve around the health of individuals in her community. Rogers never married, nor did she ever move out of her childhood home.[2] She lived and practiced medicine in the home that her father had built in 1879 until her death in 1975 at the age on 98.[2] Her home, located between the Intercoastal Waterway and Beach Street in Daytona Beach was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.[4]
Public life
editJosie Rogers began her career in 1912, with her statewide posting as first woman to Chair Florida's Department of Health.[2] She became chief of staff at the Halifax District Hospital.[1] Rogers also worked to place nurses in every school in Volusia County. In 1919, she started a program to provide health exams to all school children. Three years later, Rogers formed the first Negro Welfare Association, and two years after that, formed the city's first Recreation Board.[2] She helped to organize Daytona's YMCA and acted as director of the Halifax Historical Association.[2]
In 1925, Rogers attended the International Conference on Child Welfare in Geneva, Switzerland.[2] The Conference inspired the creation of International Children's Day.[5]
See Also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Cross, Brandon (December 31, 2022). "Dr. Josie Roger's House: Riverfront Esplanade". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Josie Rogers: Daytona Beach's First Female Physician". Ponce Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. July 31, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Bauer, Gerri (June 28, 2021). "Here's to Unsung Pioneer Heroines". Frontier Florida: Domestic History and Daily Life in Pioneer Days. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Primelles, Diana (August 13, 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory". United State Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ "World Children's Day". Convoy of Hope. October 25, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2024.