Emerson Emory

Emerson Emory (January 29, 1925 – January 28, 2003) was an American internist and psychiatrist from Dallas, Texas. Aspiring to be a doctor from an early age, he attended Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College before serving in the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army during World War II. After studying at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Emory conducted his residency at St. Paul's Hospital, which was the first major hospital in Dallas to grant staff privileges to African American doctors.

Emory was a staff physician at United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers in Dallas and McKinney, Texas, before beginning a private practice specializing in internal medicine in South Dallas in 1960. Starting in 1966, he specialized in psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, the Terrell State Hospital, and the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas, before ultimately resuming private practice as a specialist in both internal medicine and psychiatry.

Emory was also active in politics and the community. Although he was never elected, he ran for office several times, including twice for Mayor of Dallas, once for the Dallas City Council, and once for the Texas Legislature. He was a member of the Texas State Convention of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)'s Dallas branch, and the United Service Organizations (USO)'s Dallas Council. He was also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Early life and education Emerson Emory was born in Dallas on January 29, 1925, to Corry Bates Emory and Louise (Linthicum) Emory. His father, Corry, was a veteran of World War I. His family raised him as a Roman Catholic. From an early age, Emory aspired to become a doctor.

In 1940, Emory graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. He then attended Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College between 1940 and 1942. He completed his residency in 1954, the same year St. Paul's became the first major hospital in Dallas to grant staff privileges to African American doctors.

Between 1954 and 1956, Emory completed residency programs at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, and at Wadsworth General Hospital, a United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Los Angeles. He then returned to Texas to study law, attending the Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1956 and 1957 and then the Texas Southern University School of Law in 1957 and 1958.

The next phase of Emory's career saw him highly involved in psychiatry. Between 1966 and 1969, he was a Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He subsequently served as staff psychiatrist at the Terrell State Hospital and then as chief of psychiatric services at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas. When he returned to private practice in 1972, he was specializing in psychiatry in addition to internal medicine.

In 1962, Emory was elected medical examiner of the Texas State Convention of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, and in 1965, he was elected the Elks Trinity Lodge's exalted ruler. Emory was an active member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)'s Dallas branch, of which he became the executive director in 1993. In 1970, he served as the first African American president of the United Service Organizations's (USO) Dallas Council, and was also a delegate to the White House Conference on Children and Youth in Washington, D.C., that same year.

Emory was an advocate for the homeless, treatment for adult drug addicts, and voting rights for ex-convicts who served their prison sentences. He also volunteered for Black Citizens for Justice, Law and Order.

Personal life Emory was married to Peggy Lillian Herald, with whom he had three children before separating: Emerson "Rusty" Emory, Jr., Karon Hutcheson, and Sharon Emory. In 1999, Emory served as the guest speaker at the Sons of Confederate Veterans' Texas Confederate Heritage Celebration in Austin.

Emory died January 28, 2003, one day shy of his 78th birthday, of complications from cancer at Methodist Medical Center in Dallas. His funeral Mass was held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Duncanville, Texas, and he was buried in southern Dallas County at Carver Cemetery. He was presented the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100 Award in Medicine in 1973 and was named a "Dallas Living Legend" by the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1990.

Emory had a legacy of community service, political activism, and dedication to his beliefs. His motto was "deeds, not words".