Continuing Importance (1981-2002, Section 3)
The post-war civil rights movement had opened doors at medical schools across the United States, but Howard and Meharry remained important institutions. These schools offered black students important family traditions, uniquely African-American educational experiences, and an outstanding medical education.
Dr. Faith Stone, 1983 (Courtesy of Meharry Medical College)
Dr. Faith Stone is a native Houstonian. Growing up in the Bayou City in the 1960s and 1970s, she faced many challenges in the pursuit of her education and dreams. She was among the first African American students in her middle school and at Lamar High School. Upon completing her undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Faith Stone contemplated a career in medicine. Meharry College of Medicine was her first and only choice because of family traditions. Her father, Dr. John Stone, was a graduate of Meharry. Moreover, Dr. Faith Stone graduated in 1983, exactly one hundred years after her maternal great-great grandfather, Franklin Robey, graduated from Meharry. In 1887, Dr. Robey became the third African-American physician in Houston.
Dr. Franklin Robey, c. 1880s (Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John Stone)
Inspired by her father’s practice, Dr. Faith Stone also chose to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Houston. Her younger sister, Dr. Enid Stone, was an equally accomplished student at Lamar High School in Houston. Enid Stone followed her sister to Vanderbilt and Meharry, and returned to Houston where she specializes in family medicine. As a teenager, Dr. Enid Stone had a regular feature on a local news show. Maintaining an interest in the intersection of medicine and media, she helped create a documentary, Medicaid Queens, which should receive widespread release in 2008.