Justina Ford

(b. Illinois 1871-d. 1952; b. Fairmount Cemetery)

Justina Laurena Warren was born in 1871 in Knoxville, a small town a few miles east of Galesburg, Illinois. She grew up in Galesburg. Her interest in the practice of medicine was inspired by her mother, who was a nurse.

She graduated from Hering Medical College in Chicago in 1899. She first practiced in Normal, Alabama, but soon moved to Denver, Colorado. Throughout her career, Dr. Ford faced the obstacles of being both African American and a woman in a profession that much of society felt belonged to white males. "The Lady Doctor" persevered and served a needy segment of society — the disadvantaged and underprivileged of all races. Dr. Ford estimated that she had delivered more than 7,000 babies.

Eventually, Dr. Ford was allowed to practice at Denver General Hospital and admitted to the Denver and the Colorado Medical Societies. However, by 1950, she was still the only physician in Colorado to be both African American and female. Her husband, Rev. John L. Ford, was a minister at Denver's Zion Baptist Church.

Denver’s Ford-Warren Branch Library was named in her honor. Ford's former Denver home is now the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center, located at 3901 California Street at the end of RTD's downtown light rail line.

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