150 Years of History Celebrating African Americans in Dentistry

From December 5, 2006, through January 12, 2007, the NYU College of Dentistry hosted the National Museum of Dentistry exhibit, "The Future is Now! African Americans in Dentistry," a retrospective on 150 years of history focusing on African Americans in the dental profession.

The exhibit premiered in 2002 at the National Museum of Dentistry at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. Sponsored by the National Dental Association Foundation and the Colgate–Palmolive Company, the exhibit tells the story of African–American dentists from the late 19^th century to the present, including the challenges they faced in their struggle for professional acceptance and their impact on dental education, research, patient care, general practice, dental specialties, military service, and public health.

Highlights of the exhibit include photographs, charts, artifacts and memorabilia depicting the entry in 1895 of black dentists into the National Medical Association, a group founded by African–American physicians both to advance black physicians’ careers and to address the healthcare needs of African Americans; the creation in 1932 of an African–American dental association, the National Dental Association; and the attainment in 1964 of full membership by African–Americans in the American Dental Association, all set against a background of racial issues, ocioeconomic developments, and civil rights activism spanning the 20^th century.

Remarking on the event, Interim Dean Richard I. Vogel said, "NYUCD’s heritage has always been closely bound up with the academic and professional aspirations of members of underrepresented groups, so it is particularly gratifying that we were selected to host this depiction of such an important part of our nation’s history."