Emory, Emerson.

Emerson Emory, M.D., was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 29, 1925, the only child of Corry Bates Emory, a janitor, and Louise Emory, a housekeeper. In 1940, Emory graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and enrolled in Prairie View College near Houston to follow his dreams of becoming a physician. On his eighteenth birthday, in 1943, he enlisted into the United States Army. He completed Infantry Basic Training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, and was then transferred to the Basic Engineer Program at Howard University through the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). After serving with the 3607th and 3533rd Quartermaster Truck Companies in the European and Asiatic-Pacific theatres of operation, Emory was discharged in February 1946.

After the war, Emory returned to college at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and completed his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1948. He continued his education at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received his medical degree in 1952. During this time, he was commissioned as an Ensign, HP (half-pay) in the United States Naval Reserves. Shortly after finishing his medical degree, Emory returned home where he became the first African-American intern at St. Paul Hospital in Dallas. He then served as a resident at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, and Wadsworth General Hospital in Los Angeles. Dr. Emory once again returned to Dallas in 1956 and was appointed Staff Physician at the Veterans Administration Medical Center. He began his private practice in internal medicine in 1960.

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