Dr. Dogan Pemberton
Dr. Dogan Pemberton, c. 1930. (Courtesy of Sandra Organ Solis)
Dr. Dogan Pemberton was Dr. Charles W. Pemberton’s younger brother and another of Houston’s first black physicians. He too graduated from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas and received his M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. After practicing medicine in Houston for six years, his life was cut short when he was killed at the age of 32. On the morning of March 2, while making a house call to the niece of a Mr. Vincent, Dr. Pemberton was shot while talking on the front stoop. He was hit by one bullet above the kidney, and rushed to Houston Negro Hospital. Drs. Thelma Patten Law and H.E. Lee worked in surgery to take out the bullet and save his life. His assailant, Vincent admitted to shooting Dr. Pemberton, and was arrested for assault. Dr. Pemberton was taken to Houston Negro Hospital for treatment.
His colleagues Drs. Thelma Patten Law and Henry Lee treated Dr. Pemberton at Houston Negro Hospital. Dr. Pemberton struggled to stay alive for two week before he passed away on March 15, 1936. Vincent was arrested again, this time for murder. Dr. Dogan Pemberton was buried in his hometown of Marshall. Following his death, “The Dogan Pemberton Award” was created in his honor and is presented to African-American physicians who have demonstrated outstanding work in the medical field in Houston. Dr. J.G. Gathings (b. 1898, d. 1965) is one of the physicians w ho received this honor.
Next Biography: Dr. Edward B. Perry
Return to: Meharry and Howard