Dr. Jeanne Spurlock, a Leader in Psychiatric Medicine and Social Activism

Born in Sandusky in 1921, the first child of Frank and Glodena Spurlock, Jeanne Spurlock spent her early childhood in Sandusky before moving to the Detroit area, where she attended high school. When she was nine years old, she became determined to dedicate her life to promoting caring and empathy in the medical profession, after receiving indifferent care in a hospital when she broke a leg. At first she thought she should become a teacher because she didn't think she could afford medical school, but she eventually achieved both dreams by becoming a highly regarded psychiatrist and educator.

After high school, receiving a scholarship, she enrolled in Spelman College in Atlanta, later transferring to Roosevelt College in Chicago. In 1943, she enrolled in the Howard University College of Medicine, and received her medical degree in 1947. 

By 1950, Dr. Spurlock became a staff psychiatrist in a Chicago hospital, and began a long career in medicine, education, and human services. Among her specializations in her early career in Chicago was child psychiatry, serving in hospitals, academia, and private practice. She later was on the faculty of Meharry Medical College in Nashville. In the 1970s, she was appointed to the National Institute of Mental Health and became Deputy Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association, serving in the position until 1991. In her biography at the website of the National Institute of Health said that Dr. Spurlock "made significant contributions in focusing the medical community's attention on the stresses of poverty, sexism, racism, and discrimination that effect women, minorities, gays, and lesbians." 

After Dr. Spurlock's death in 1999, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry named two fellowships in her honor; the American Psychiatric Association created the Jeanne Spurlock Minority Fellowship Achievement Award, and, in 2002, the Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship.