Robert tanner jackson biography

American dentist (1846–1873)

Robert Tanner Freeman (c. 1846–1873) was an American dentist. As one of the first six students to attend the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he became the first African American to graduate with a dental degree in the United States on March 10, 1869.

He subsequently practiced dentistry in Washington, D.C.^[1]

Early life and education

Freeman was born near Washington, D.C., in about 1846.

Robert tanner jackson biography

He was the son of a carpenter who had bought his family's freedom and then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. During his late teens, Freeman worked for a mentor, Dr. Henry Bliss Noble, a white dentist in Washington.^[2][1]

Before Freeman was accepted into the Harvard Dental School, now the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he was rejected by two other institutions because of the color of his skin.

The dental school's first dean, Nathan Cooley Keep, interviewed him and invited him to become one of the first s