Dr. Jane Hinton (1919-2003)

Today’s historian we will talk about is Dr. Jane Hinton. She was one of the first two African Americans to graduate with a DVM. The other being Dr. Alfreda Johnson Webb who we talk about later on. There were only 4 DVMS before her and the next DVM would only show up after 20 more years!

Not only did Dr. Hinton pave the way for women in veterinary medicine she also paved the way for women in other sciences such as microbiology. Since her father was one of the most prominent African American researchers she was able to work as a lab assistant to Dr. John Howard Muller. This opportunity gave her other opportunities such as helping create the Muller-Hinton agar, which is used widely in all sciences to test bacterial resistance to antibiotics!

Dr. Hinton also worked with livestock disease outbreaks. In 1960 Dr. Hinton was able to retire and enjoy her life with her garden and pets, at the young age of 41. She never married and died at the age of 84.

Written by: Ashley G, VT