Sarah Garland Boyd Jones


Sarah Garland Boyd Jones was an American physician from the U.S. state of Virginia. She was the first woman to receive a certificate from the Virginia State Medical Examining Board, and with her husband, co-founded a hospital in Richmond, Virginia.

Biography

Sarah Garland Boyd was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. She was the daughter of George W. Boyd, the leading African American contractor and builder of Richmond, Virginia, remembered for the Maggie L. Walker house; and Ellen Boyd. She was educated in the public schools of Richmond, and after graduating in 1883 from Richmond Colored Normal School with Maggie L. Walker, she taught in the Richmond schools for five years.
In 1888, she married Miles Berkley Jones, who, at that time, was also a teacher, and later, G. W. A. Secretary of the True Reformers. From 1890 to 1893, Jones attended Howard University Medical College, sessions 23 to 25, and graduated as a medical doctor in 1893. She passed the Virginia State Medical Examining Board, receiving over 90 per cent on the examination in surgery. Jones was the first woman to receive a certificate from the board. Thereafter, she practiced medicine in Richmond. With her husband, who also became a physician, she opened Richmond Hospital, which was also known as the Women's Central Hospital.

Personal life

Jones died May 11, 1905. Her sister, who also became a physician, married her brother-in-law, the widower, Miles Berkley Jones, The Sarah G. Jones Memorial Hospital, Medical College and Training School for Nurses was named in her honor in 1922.

Attribution