Clotilde Dent Bowen

Clotilde Dent Bowen (March 20, 1923 – March 11, 2011) was a psychiatrist who became the first African-American woman to reach the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Bowen was also the first African-American woman to graduate in medicine from Ohio State University (in 1947), the first Black physician to hold a military commission, and the first woman commander of a U.S. military hospital. In 1970, Bowen served in the Vietnam War, as chief psychiatrist for the U.S. Army. She was awarded a Bronze Star and American Legion of Merit in 1971 for her work in establishing drug treatment centers and her efforts to reduce racial tensions in Vietnam. She was also awarded a Meritorious Service Medal (in 1974). Bowen continued to advocate for services and support for services for drug dependency, support for soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorders, and human rights.

Early life

Clotilde Dent was born in March 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, the second of three children. She was named after her mother, Clotilde Tynes Dent. Her father, William Marion Dent, was an alumnus of Dartmouth University.

From age three, after her parents separated, she lived on a U.S. Army base in Columbus, Ohio, with her maternal aunt Maude Barrows and uncle. Her uncle, Stephen Barrows, was a Buffalo Soldier, and he passed on his love of the military. Dent then studied at Ohio State University, gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in three years.

At university, Dent was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the American Enterprise Institute, the Elizabeth Blackwell Society, and the School of Medicine's Graduation Committee.

Career

After having become interested in tuberculosis during her residency, Bowen undertook a fellowship in tuberculosis with the New York State Health Department from 1949 to 1950. She worked in a public tuberculosis clinic for five years, and also opened a private pulmonologist practice in Harlem, New York.

After her tour in Vietnam, Bowen's assignments included returns to chief psychiatry positions in hospitals in Hawaii and Denver, as well as Indianapolis, Indiana, where she became the first woman to command a US military hospital. In 1974, Bowen was also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. and case reports in drug-related psychosis. She also co-authored a chapter on military psychiatry with James L. Collins in Black Psychiatrists and American Psychiatry, published in 1999. Bowen also wrote an unpublished memoir. Meritorious Service Medal, 1974. She Put a Dent in It, a single-issue biography of Bowen by artist Ruth E. Edwards, in around 2003. Tribute Event at the Ohio State University, 2012. Annual Clotilde Bowen Diversity Lecture, Ohio State University. Ohio State University Hall of Fame, 2021.

Bowen had a variety of outdoor and active pursuits, including boating, trail bike riding, and playing pool.