jimmyt, good for you. It reminds me of the Delany sisters who co-wrote Having Our Say. Here's the bit it reminded me of:

Bessie Delany graduated in 1923 -- when she was 32 -- from the School of Dental and Oral Surgery at Columbia University. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York City.
      Bessie Delany became known in Harlem for never turning away a needy patient, no matter how poor or sick. "I remember a child with syphilis, and nobody else would touch her," she said. "I said, Well, somebody's got to help her, so I did."