BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " ROBERT TANNER FREEMAN " WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO GRADUATE FROM THE HARVARD SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE AND THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN AWARDED A DENTAL DEGREE IN THE UNITED STATES : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BACK HEROES "

          BLACK    SOCIAL   HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Robert Tanner Freeman

Robert Tanner Freeman (1846–1873) was the first African-American to graduate from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and may have been the first African-American awarded a dental degree in the United States.

Biography

Freeman was born in Washington, D.C., and was the son of former slaves from North Carolina. He attended classes at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and in 1869, he was the first African-American to graduate from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and may be the first African-American awarded a dental degree in the United States.^[1]