Notable Colorado Women
Dr. Justina L. Ford - Colorado's First Black Woman Doctor
Dr. Justina Ford overcame prejudice and discrimination to become Colorado's first female African-American physician. Excluded from the medical establishment because she was a black woman, Dr. Ford was a pioneer in opening up the medical profession to black people and women in general. Known in her later years as the Baby Doctor for delivering an estimated 7,000 babies in her career, she practiced medicine tirelessly all her life, caring and showing great compassion for people from all backgrounds at a time when Colorado's poorest, immigrants, and people of color had little access to medicine. Her pioneering efforts as well as her humanitarian service to others makes Dr. Ford an extraordinary figure in Colorado and American history.

Born
Justina Laurena Warren was born in 1871 in Knoxvil...
January 22, 1871 CE

Graduation from Medical School
Justina attended Hering Medical School in Chicago ...
1899 CE

Move to Denver, Fighting for Her Place
After a brief stint practicing in Alabama, where i...
1902 CE

"The Lady Doctor" Gains Her Colorado Medical License
Dr. Ford still faced discrimination in Colorado. N...
October 2, 1902 CE

Move to a Larger Practice
The Colorado newspaper The Statesman reported on J...
June 1911 CE

Dr. Ford is Accepted into Medical Associations, Receives Award
It took approximately fifty years for the Denver M...
1950 CE

Dr. Ford Stops Practicing Medicine Due to Poor Health
Dr. Ford practiced medicine all her life, only sto...
October 1952 CE

Died
Dr. Justina Ford practiced medicine until two week...
October 14, 1952 CE

Posthumous Honors
Dr. Ford's contributions have never been fully app...
1985 CE