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Black dentists: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins and Olive Myrtle Henderson

CTL-E-1351 · Person · Rollins 1895-1928; Henderson 1912-1948 (practice years)

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, the first African-American woman dentist in the United States, moved her practice to Chicago in 1895; Olive Myrtle Henderson, Northwestern's first Black woman dental graduate (1908), was inspired by Rollins, became Chicago's second Black woman dentist, and ran a South Side private practice from 1912 to 1948.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from ECON-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-ECON-001:ECON-012; source research type(s): people.

Sources

Record CTL-E-1351 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 2 sources · CTL research: ECON-001.
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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Black dentists: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins and Olive Myrtle Henderson (CTL-E-1351),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1351/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Black dentists: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins and Olive Myrtle Henderson (CTL-E-1351).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1351/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Black dentists: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins and Olive Myrtle Henderson (CTL-E-1351) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1351/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Black dentists: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins and Olive Myrtle Henderson (CTL-E-1351).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1351/

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Children playing in vacant lot in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Children playing in vacant lot in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Hallway of a kitchenette apartment building, Chicago, 1941
Hallway of a kitchenette apartment building, Chicago, 1941Photo: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Negro swinging his girl on roller skates. Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Negro swinging his girl on roller skates. Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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