Dr. Clyde Donnell By: Joyvell Henry

Who am I?  Medical Doctor  VP and Medical Director of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance

Where It All Started  Born in August 1890 to Smith and Lula Donnell  Public schools in Greensboro, NC  A.B from Howard in 1911  M.D from Harvard in 1915  Interned at Boston City Hospital  Interested in public health problems.

Goal in Life? Help the African American Community

NC Mutual Insurance Company  National death rate was 33% higher  Founded in 1898 by three men; Dr. Aaron Moore, John Merrick, C.C. Spaulding  Goal: improve the health of blacks  Donnell hired in 1917 as medical director  Created “Life Extension Department”

Life Extension Department  Conducted lecture tours, showed films, and distributed health promotion bulletins from state and federal health departments.  Taught individuals about importance of physical examination and the nature of communicable diseases such as scarlet fever, small pox, and measles.

How did it help  No clear decline in mortality  But company made reforms and adopted insurance practices to suit the health status of Southern blacks  NC Mutual became the largest black- owned insurance company in the US

His Legacy  Died at Duke University Medical Center in 1971  His life’s work illustrates the efforts of blacks to improve the health status through public education.

Sources  Halperin, Edward C. "The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, Dr. Clyde Henry Donnell, and the Health Education of Blacks." NCMJ (1995):  C, W. M. "Medical History: Dr. Clyde Donnell." Journal of the National Medical Association (1960): 382.