Joycelyn Elders

“I went to Washington, not to get that job but to do that job. I wanted to do something about the problems that I saw out there that were happening in our country. I wanted to do something to make sure that all people had access to health care. I wanted to do something to reduce teenage pregnancies and begin to address the needs of our adolescents.”

Joycelyn Elders was born Minnie Lee Jones in Schaal, Arkansas on August 12, 1933, and began using the name Joycelyn Lee in college. Her mother stressed the value of education to all eight of her children, saying “if you want to get out of the cotton patch, you’ve got to get something in your head” and teaching them to read at an early age, correcting their mistakes with a switch.

Elders was valedictorian of her high school class but  had no plans to attend college until graduation night when she was awarded a United Methodist Women's scholarship to Philander Smith College in Little Rock.  Her brothers and sisters picked cotton to raise the $3.83 she needed for bus fare. She majored in biology and aspired to be a lab technician until she heard Edith Irby Jones, the first African American to attend the University of Arkansas Medical School, speak at a chapel service.

After graduation Elders joined the Army, serving in the Women's Medical Specialist Corps and training in physical therapy. After her 3-year enlistment was up in 1956 she enrolled at the University of Arkansas Medical School, where she and the two other African American medical students were not permitted in the student lunchroom, eating instead with the African American hospital staff.

Elders interned at the University of Minnesota, and returned to the University of Arkansas for her residency in pediatrics and an MS in biochemistry, becoming chief resident and joining the U of A faculty where she became a full professor in 1976. She became the only physician in Arkansas to be certified in pediatric endocrinology in 1978 and has published over 100 research papers, primarily on juvenile diabetes. This research, including the effects of diabetes on pregnancy, led to her study of sexuality and advocacy on behalf of young people.

In 1987 Governor Bill Clinton named her Director of the Arkansas Department of Health, where she established health clinics in schools, expanded pre-natal care and increased home care opportunities. When Clinton took office as President in January 1993 he nominated her for Surgeon General, but she was not confirmed until September because of conservatives' objections to her views on abortion rights and sex education.

While serving as Surgeon General she continued to be outspoken on these issues, as well as the possibility of legalizing drugs to reduce crime. After responding to a comment from an audience member about masturbation after U. N. Conference on AIDS she was fired by the White House. (Her description of the incident can be read in this interview by UMC.org Profiles on page 5.)

Elders returned to the faculty of the University of Arkansas Medical School. She is now retired but continues to be a strong advocate for reproductive rights and health education.