I want to be a Veterinarian: History of Veterinary Medicine 1940-1970.

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Posted May 5, 2011



This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

By 1940, only ten veterinary colleges in the United States remained open. Twenty others had closed since 1900, including those at Harvard, New York University, and George Washington University.

World War II created a huge need for veterinarians to serve in food inspection domestically and overseas, for development of vaccines anticipated in enemy attacks, and to accompany pack mules in combat with Japanese forces on the rugged Burma trail.

Male Studenta in Cornell's Veterinary Classes of 1943, 1944 and 1945 were members of the Army Specialized Training Progam.  Courtesy of Cornell University.

Veterinarians were in such short supply that colleges operated year-round. Dr. Morris Povar remembers the experience: Going to veterinary school during the summer was a hideous experience. The room must have been 90 degrees; no air.

After the war, hundreds of thousands of battle-weary veterans returned home and many wanted to become veterinarians, but only a handful of states had programs to educate DVMs. In Minnesota, it was the insistence of veterans with strong political ties who forced the legislature to establish a new veterinary program. In all, seven new veterinary colleges opened between 1944-48.

Glen Nelson was in the inaugural class at Minnesota. Most of us were veterans. We had a B17 pilot who was shot flying over France, a B29 pilot who flew over Nagasaki the day after THE bomb. I was a tank officer under Patten in North Africa. We had a POW, and another who was shot up pretty badly on Saipan. Going to the student center was like sitting around the American Legion Club.

Prior to 1945, only about 70 African-Americans had ever received DVM degrees, mostly from northern univerities like Iowa State, Kansas State and Cornell. But that all changed when Frederick Douglass Patterson, DVM, PhD became the third president of Tuskegee Institute and not only founded a veterinary college that continues to this day, but also was the principal force in establishing the United Negro College Fund.

Women, though sporadically admitted to veterinary colleges since 1910, were vastly underrepresented in the post war years when so many men squeezed them out of the few slots previously available.

Even through the 1960s, women were evaluated differently than men. Linda Reeve Peddie sat through her grueling interview at Cornell in 1961, They asked me if I cooked, if I sewed, if I danced. Did I date?  And then the question, ‘If you were to marry someone who had a vocation out in the desert somewhere and there weren’t any animals, just what would you do with this degree?’ I did not think there was a prayer that I would be accepted.

Fulfilling the desire to become a veterinarian is the dominant theme of my second article in a four-part series on veterinary education in the United States (1940-70). It is published in the Spring 2011 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Volume 38 (1), pages 84-99, and should be available in veterinary or medical libraries, or online services provided by these libraries.

For those how do not have access to the article and would like a copy, please contact me at the following e-mail address.

Comments are welcome at dfs6@cornell.edu

Notable African-American Veterinarians

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University 
Posted 01.26.11.



This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).



February is designated as Black History Month and this year I would like to recognize some notable African-American veterinarians. The deans of three of our 28 veterinary colleges are African-American: Drs. Willie M. Reed (Purdue), Tsegaye HabteMariam (Tuskegee), and Phillip D. Nelson (Western Univ Health Sciences). Dr. Reed, who also serves as 2010-11 president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, recently shared with me his hope that they might serve as role models for young African-Americans who aspire to a career in the health professions.

Frederick Douglass Patterson (1901-1988) was one of the most influential Black veterinarians in U.S. history. Orphaned before he was two years of age and raised by an older sister who encouraged him to get an education, Patterson received his veterinary degree from Iowa State University (1923) and PhD from Cornell (1932). After becoming president of Tuskegee Institute (now University) in 1935, he overcame tremendous obstacles to establish a veterinary college for Black students at a time when higher education in the South was generally segregated and there were only about 12 veterinary colleges in the country.

Though his contributions to veterinary medicine represent worthy lifetime achievements, more Americans recognize his name as the organizer of the United Negro College Fund which was incorporated in 1944.  To veterinarians and animal lovers everywhere, we can pay tribute to a DVM the next time we hear the well-known phrase, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”. Patterson also helped establish the Tuskegee Airmen program during his tenure as president. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1987.

Finally, a recognition to several institutions, in particular, Kansas State, Iowa State, Michigan State, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. Between 1900 and the establishment of the veterinary college at Tuskegee in 1945, these colleges accepted and educated about 70 young Black men to become veterinarians. Several also received postgraduate training, usually leading to a PhD. They formed a core of mentors and role models for the succeeding generations of African-American veterinarians.

Shown below (left) is the graduation photo of Aubrey E. Robinson, Sr. Originally from Pennsylvania, he received his DVM from Cornell in 1920 and established a progressive mixed animal practice in New Jersey. Most of his clients were white, and he served some very large dairy herds and hog operations. He and his wife had one daughter (a teacher), and three sons (a federal judge, an engineer and a veterinarian).

The veterinarian, Dr. Charles R. Robinson, graduated from Cornell in 1944. As a second-year student, he met President Patterson of Tuskegee Institute when he visited Cornell to recruit faculty for his new college. Though Robinson was not one of the inaugural faculty as Patterson had hoped, he did teach there after his war service. He then returned to his father's practice where he spent the remainder of his career. Dr. and Mrs. Robinson (right) are retired and live in Arizona.

Photos courtesy of Cornell University (left) and the author (right).