By Dr. Carl Mack
Blanche Sellers was born on July 11, 1925, in Atlanta, Georgia. Among her childhood friends was the young future civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. In pursuit of a medical career, Blanche graduated from Spelman College in 1946, and from Meharry Medical College in 1950. It was at Meharry where she met another young medical student from New Orleans, Philip Lavizzo. After their marriage, and prior to moving back to New Orleans, Dr. Philip served as chief surgeon at Taborian Hospital, in Mound Bayou, MS, one of the nation’s first all-Black-governed cities.
In New Orleans, they worked at the Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University. Dr. Philip was later appointed senior assistant surgeon in the United States Public Health Service in Seattle, Washington. They arrived in Seattle in July 1956, and Dr. Blanche opened her pediatric practice, thus becoming the first Black woman pediatrician ever in the state of Washington. Her daughter, Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, recalls her commitment to providing quality healthcare in underserved communities: “I saw that very clearly in my parents’…when they were practicing in fairly poor neighborhoods in the time before Medicare.”
In 1970, the long-awaited Odesa Brown Children’s Clinic opened its doors to Seattle’s Black community, and Dr. Blanche closed her practice to become its first medical director. Her motto for the clinic was “Quality care with Dignity.” In 1975, she received her master’s in public health from the University of Washington. Dr. Blanche also served as president of the Seattle Chapter of Links, Inc., and was involved with the Seattle Urban League, Girls Club of Puget Sound, and United Way of King County, among others.
On August 29, 1984, the dignified Dr. Blanche Sellers Lavizzo was welcomed to the Eternal Clinic by The Chief Practitioner.
This article is brought to you courtesy of Black Heritage Day V – the most comprehensive Black History Calendar ever! Edition V is an all women’s edition available at blackheritagedays.com
