Bessie Delaney

Dr. Bessie E. Delaney Scholarship
Post-Doctoral Award
(Female Applicants Only) $10,000

Applications open January 1, 2024 and close May 31, 2024

Scholarship

The Dr. Bessie Delaney Scholarship is named in honor of Dr. Annie Elizabeth “Bessie” Delaney, (September 3, 1891 – September 25, 1995). Dr. Bessie Delaney earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) dental degree in 1923 from Columbia University. The only Black female in her class, she was the second Black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State. Dr. Delaney treated many of Harlem’s poor, and in 27 years of practice never raised her fees.

Widely known throughout the community as “Dr. Bessie,” she treated the rich and poor equally, and performed thousands of free children’s dental exams. During the depression, she continued providing care for those who could not afford to pay. She was active in civil rights and participated in many protests and marches, and encouraged civil rights organizers to meet at her dental office. She believed in equality for all people and openly defied the segregation laws of the time.

She became famous at the age of 101, with the publication of the book, “Having Our Say” by Amy Hill Hearth. In 1994, Columbia’s School of Dental and Oral Surgery awarded her its Distinguished Alumna Award for “her pioneering work as a minority woman in dentistry.”