Helen Octavia Dickens

Helen Octavia Dickens (February 21, 1909 – December 2, 2001) was an American physician, medical and social activist, health equity advocate, researcher, health administrator, and health educator. She was the first African-American woman to be admitted to the American College of Surgeons in 1950, and specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dickens worked at several private practices and clinics including the Aspiranto Health Home

Biography Dickens was born on February 21, 1909, in Dayton, Ohio. Born to Charles Warren Dickens and Daisy Jane Green Dickens, Helen Dickens was the oldest of their three children.

Parents Her father, Charles Warren Dickens, a former slave and water boy during the Civil War, was raised by a Union colonel from the age of 9. He took the name Charles Dickens after meeting the British novelist. He was self-educated and had a keen intellect, but prejudice confined him to janitorial work. Knowing the value of education, Charles Dickens later attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin College before moving to Dayton, Ohio where he would meet and marry Helen Dickens' mother. Daisy's sister was Chicago director Pearl G. Pachaco.

Educational Background Both of Dickens' parents encouraged her to attend desegregated schools in order to receive a better education. Dickens' father encouraged all of his children to stay motivated to become educated and pursue any career they pleased. With this instilled in her, Dickens' decided that she wanted to graduate high school at 17 instead of 18, and did so by taking night classes. She was one of two women in her class and was the only African-American woman in her class.

Marriage and Family Dickens married Dr. Purvis Henderson in 1943,

In 1943, Dickens was accepted into a residency at Harlem Hospital in New York City. She finished her residency in 1946 and was certified by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the same year.

In 1948, she became director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Philadelphia's racially segregated Mercy Douglass hospital, where she remained until 1967.

After leaving the hospital in 1967, Dickens opened a clinic at Penn that was devoted and specialized to helping and supporting teen parents. The clinic offered services such as group counseling, therapy, education, and prenatal care. After 2 years of the clinic being opened, in 1969, Dickens was then named the dean for minority admissions. Over the course of 5 years, she helped increase the number of minority students at Penn from 3 to 64.

During her time, working for Penn, she eventually earned an honorary degree from them in 1982 and earned one back in 1979 from the Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Throughout her career, Dickens published several articles and contributed chapters to several books on teen pregnancy and prevention and adolescent health issues. In an interview, Dickens noted that her work appeared in "Pan American Medical Women's Journal, American Practice and Diagnosis of Treatment, American Journal of OB/GYN, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Marriage and Family Counseling, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, and Women's Wellness".

During Dickens' career, she received a lot of awards and recognition for her work. Some of these awards included: Gimbel Philadelphia Award for "outstanding service to humanity, " the Medical Woman of the Year, Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania, Daisy Lumpkin Award, the Mercy Douglass Hospital Award, and the Sadie Alexander Award for community service by Delta Sigma Theta.

Awards and legacy She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1986.

In 1991, she was awarded the most prestigious award at the Penn's Women of Color celebration. This award was named after her, Dr. Helen O. Dickens Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was given to candidates who had a long history of helping Women of Color in the Penn and Delaware Valley communities.