Saturday, October 19, 2024

A00068 - Joseph Clarence Chambers, Jr. (Amherst College Class of 1930), First African American Medical Superintendent of the New York Hospital System

 

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Joseph Clarence Chambers, Jr. 

Class of 1930

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Deceased November 3, 2006


In Memory

Dr. J. Clarence Chambers, Jr., retired general medical superintendent of the New York City hospital system, died Nov. 3, 2006, in Amherst, MA, of respiratory failure.  Born in Baltimore on September 4, 1910, to J. Clarence Chambers, Sr. and Alice Wilson Chambers, Dr. Chambers was salutatorian of the Douglass High School Class of 1926.  That fall he entered Amherst College at a time when students still hauled their own water and firewood to the dormitories.  While at Amherst, he served as the rehearsal pianist for operetta performances of the music department.  Graduating magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1930, he was Amherst’s first recipient of a John Woodruff Simpson Fellowship in medicine for study at Columbia Univ. College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Graduating from Columbia in 1934, he interned at Harlem Hospital.  He also found time to study music theory and composition at New York Univ., the Julliard School, and privately with Roy Harris.  His numerous instrumental and vocal compositions were performed here and abroad.  His All American Suite for Two Pianos, performed by renowned dual pianists Jose and Amparo Iturbi, was recorded by RCA Victor.  All American inspired Bloomingdale’s to produce a well-received decorator’s “suite” of rooms that reflected the music.

Dr. Chambers served as admitting physician and night administrator at Harlem Hospital.  In 1941 he was honorably discharged from the Army Medical Corps Reserve as a captain and was appointed deputy medical superintendent.  He was the first African-American to attain such a position in New York.  By 1951, then acting superintendent of three hospitals, he received charge of the James Ewing Cancer Hospital.  In 1955, he was appointed general medical superintendent of the Department of Hospitals.  Before retiring in 1970, he was cofounder and secretary of the New York Blood Center.  In 1980, Dr. Chambers received an honorary doctorate from Amherst.  Despite his many accomplishments, Dr. Chambers lived modestly and never bothered to frame any of his degrees and awards.

Besides music, Dr. Chambers enjoyed electric trains (both real and model) and worldwide travel (the films and videos of which he shared with family on visits home).  In 1991, he moved to Applewood, a retirement community near his beloved Amherst.

Dr. Chambers is survived by a nephew, Osborne B. Dixon, Jr. and his wife, Veronica; a grandniece, Carol Dixon; as well as a cousin, Jewel Chambers (all of Baltimore).  He is also survived by two goddaughters, Paula and Vaar Schjelderup; and a lifelong friend, Anne Brown, of Oslo, Norway.

Osborne Dixon Jr.

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Chambers All American (A Satirical Suite for Two Pianos), played by Jose and Amparo Iturbi (1950) (youtube.com)

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Cuthbert Simpkins MD 
From:
To:skipjen2865@aol.com
Cc:ac-black-alumni-mailing-list-nonaffiliated@googlegroups.com
Sat, Oct 19 at 5:57 AM
WOW 

Dr.Chambers was phenomenal!!!

I enjoyed learning about him.

Thank you so very much Skip.


Cuthbert Simpkins


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From:Fred Gregory

Sat, Oct 19 at 2:48 PM

Douglass High School in Baltimore was probably the first school for Colored in the city, followed by Dunbar some years later, I think.  It was initially VoTech but check out some of the graduates from it, including Thurgood Marshall.  Not too shabby!  Chambers’ music, knocks my sock off.  How amazing his talents.  Unfortunately, Douglass now is in the bottom.  R, Fred

 

Notable alumni

[edit]

·         Mark Andrews (graduated 1992), musician with stage name Sisqó[11]

·         Sallie Blair, jazz singer[12]

·         Clarence W. Blount, first African American majority leader (1983–2003) in the Maryland State Senate

·         Lucy Diggs Slowe, founding member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, first Dean of Women at Howard University and also a tennis champion, winning the national title of the American Tennis Association's first tournament in 1917, the first African-American woman to win a major sports title.

·         Frank Boston, member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1987-1999)

·         James "Buster" Brown (graduated 1932), tap dancer

·         Roger W. Brown (graduated 1959), Baltimore City Circuit Court judge (1987–2002)[11]

·         Nellie A. Buchanan (graduated 1917), taught at Douglass from 1923 to 1970

·         E. Franklin Frazier (graduated 1912), American sociologist[11]

·         Cab Calloway (graduated 1925), jazz singer and bandleader[11][13]

·         Paula Campbell (graduated 2001), recording artist[11]

·         Harry A. Cole, first African American elected to the Maryland General Assembly

·         Samuel James Cornish (did not graduate), first Poet Laureate of Boston

·         Isaiah Dixon (graduated 1941), member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1967–1982)

·         Ethel Ennis, jazz singer

·         Elton Fax, illustrator

·         Dru Hill, R&B recording group

·         Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, veteran civil rights activist, founder Baltimore's NAACPTooltip National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch

·         Terry Johnson, singer, songwriter, and music producer, lead singer of the 1950s Baltimore doo-wop group, The Flamingos

·         Bill Kenny, lead singer of, and his brother, Herb Kenny, singer in The Ink Spots

·         Labtekwon, hip hop artist

·         Thurgood Marshall (graduated 1925), U.S. Supreme Court Justice[11]

·         Kweisi Mfume, U.S. Congressman (1987–1996)(2020- ), former president/CEO of the NAACP

·         Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr., civil rights activist, namesake of the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses

·         Juanita Jackson Mitchell, civil rights activist, lawyer, first African American female to practice law in Maryland

·         Parren Mitchell, U.S. Congressman (1971–1987)

·         Margaret "Peggy" Murphy, first black woman to chair the Baltimore City Delegation

·         Henry E. Parker, Connecticut State Treasurer (1975–1986)

·         Alfred Prettyman, philosopher

·         Pete Rawlings, appropriations chairman in the Maryland House of Delegates

·         Bishop L. Robinson, first African American police commissioner of Baltimore, Maryland[14]

Notable faculty

[edit]

·         G. David Houston, Professor of English at Howard University

·         Harry Truman Pratt Sr., former alumnus and later principal of the school, educator and business leader

 

 

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Jack Hailey 

Sat, Oct 19 at 5:06 PM
Everett, Chambers's story is extraordinary. Thanks for putting it together and including the link to the piano duet.

At Applewood, Chambers became a friend of Joe and Dot Gavin, the parents of Tay (Mt Holyoke '69) and the in-laws of Peter Erickson  (Amherst '67). Dot just celebrated her 103rd birthday. I'll mail your profile of Dr. Chambers to her.

Jack

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junius williams 

Sun, Oct 20 at 3:16 PM
OMG ! I wish I (we) had known that a Black man of such great inspiration lived so close to Amherst, in his final years (since 1991-2006).  I would certainly have sought him out . He could have been featured at our reunions. I feel so much at a great loss to have only known of him now.  But Skip, you are doing a great job reminding us or our heritage. Thank you.  Junius'65

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ANBalder 
Sun, Oct 20 at 4:37 PM
SKIP:

Thanks!  Multitalented gentleman and quite accomplished.  The piano suite is playing in the background tight now.  Love his blend of jazz, ragtime and other influences - satirical or not.

Andy

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Russell Williams 

Thu, Oct 24 at 8:47 AM
  Hi Skip, and everyone else,

     Your recognition of Douglass High School in Baltimore and references to some of its illustrious graduates was of personal interest to me.

     Among the notable graduates of Douglass High School was biochemist/neuroscientist, J. Tyson Tildon,   Tyson's father, Garfield, was my grandfather's cousin and very best-friend, so everyone in my family knew Tyson and his brother Charles. .Tyson was an inspiration to many, through his groundbreaking research, through his mentorship of many upcoming scientists, and also because of his fierce advocacy for high quality schools as President of the Baltimore schools' Board of Education (the main newspaper in Baltimore--theBaltimore Sun -- wrote that he had "no tolerance for mediocrity,"). Although I know of no direct connection to Amherst, I do remember that Tyson was an icon to Tuffy. 

Here are two interesting profiles of Tyson. 

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J. Clarence Chambers Jr. ’30

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