Marvelous Modern Woman Monday
May Edward Chinn
Born April 15, 1896, to the daughter of a former slave Mary (May) had doors opened to her that few women, let alone “working class” black women had in the early 1900s.
May became a marvelous modern woman not letting racist institutions stop her from achieving her goals. By the time of her death in 1980 she had joined the Society of Surgical Oncology, and a society to promote African American women to attend medical school.
Early Life
Her mother, Lula Ann Evans, a descendant of the Chickahominy people, worked as a housekeeper on the estate of Charles L. Tiffany. Yes, that Tiffany.
Her mother’s salary sent May to Bordentown Manual and Training Industrial School, a boarding school in New Jersey. Unfortunately, a bout with osteomyelitis in her jaw forced May to return to New York where she lived with the white Tiffany family while she recovered from surgery.
It was in their home that she was exposed to classical music and taught German and French. Classical music would be her first passion.
After the death of Charles Tiffany, Chinn and her mother returned to New York City where she resumed her education at a public school and took piano lessons.
