Dr. May Edward Chinn is the first Black woman to graduate from Bellevue Hospital Medical College and the first woman to intern at Harlem Hospital. Although Chinn never graduated from high school, she had the good fortune of being exposed to education in a fashion many young Black girls never experienced in her time.
Chinn was born in Great Barrington, Mass. on April 16, 1896. The granddaughter of slaves, Chinn was raised by her mother, who was the live-in cook for the family that owned the jewelry company, Tiffany and Co. Chinn’s mother earned enough to send her daughter to boarding school, but money eventually became scarce and she had to drop out.
Because she grew up in an environment that exposed her to various levels of culture, Chinn was able to navigate in the world without her diploma. She boldly took an exam to enter Columbia University’s Teachers College and graduated in 1921. Five years later, she earned her M.D. from Bellevue.