Dr. Gloria Jackson Bacon (Finding Aid)

Dr. Gloria Jackson Bacon

1937 -

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Time of Year: Spring

Favorite Vacation Spot: New Orleans

Interview Length: 164 minutes

Interview Date(s): July 10, 2002

Interview Location(s): The HistoryMakers office: 1900 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois, The HistoryMakers office: 1900 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, The HistoryMaker's office: 1900 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

Abstract

Dr. Gloria Bacon describes her mother as being a focused woman who was committed to her family. Growing up, Bacon heard stories of her mother's family that revealed a lifestyle reminiscent of slavery in the American South. Before his death, Bacon's father differentiated his family background from that of his wife. His family were business people while Gloria Bacon's maternal side of the family were farmers. Her father's unrealized dreams of medical school manifested themselves in his encouraging his firstborn to pursue the profession. He also instilled the value of education in his children. Bacon describes that her parents met at a Louisiana church and were married for sixty-five years. She describes her siblings: her younger sister and her deceased brother. Dr. Bacon remembers the people, foods and natural beauty of her New Orleans, Louisiana childhood. She describes herself as having been an outspoken young girl determined to be a doctor. Dr. Gloria Bacon discusses the family pressure she felt to become a doctor. Her mother suggested that rather than pushing her into a field, she was giving her daughter a good starting place in life. Bacon describes being a talkative elementary school student. One teacher punished her by taking her desk away for the remainder of the school year. Bacon had one particularly positive schoolteacher experience: a World War II veteran turned elementary school teacher and she shared a special bond. Bacon describes her school environment; throughout her education, she attended all-black schools. She encountered a few white individuals upon attending Xavier University. Bacon describes being in the running to become valedictorian of her high school. However, her other interests, especially in music, occupied her time; she prided herself in being a well-rounded student. Bacon applied to two New Orleans colleges--Xavier University and Tulane University--but was rejected by the latter on discriminatory grounds. While Bacon Dr. Gloria Bacon discusses her early academic difficulties at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to her pre-medicine coursework, Bacon was deeply involved in the performing arts. She abandoned her singing after committing her life to medicine; Bacon did not sing for twenty-five years. She did, however, balance her medical curriculum with her talent for sewing. She describes that sewing presented one more opportunity for a black person living in a hostile white environment. Bacon discusses her keys to college success--having a close friend and applying her Latin language training to medical terminology. Gloria Bacon describes some gender discrimination issues that presented themselves in her undergraduate career, but maintains that Howard University's medical school was racially diverse and welcoming to women. Bacon describes that after two years at Howard, she transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago's medical school and lived in Chicago with her husband. She compares the two Dr. Gloria Bacon describes a chilling Illinois winter she experienced following her transfer from the medical school at Washington D.C.'s Howard University to the medical school of The University of Illinois at Chicago. Bacon describes her first pregnancy, while a medical student at Howard. She describes her career path following graduation from medical school, beginning with her experience at a hectic West Side "Medicaid mill." She then transferred to another medical facility in the area of Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago housing project. Faced with new interests and questions, Gloria Bacon returned to graduate school to pursue studies in the social sciences. Dr. Bacon was then compelled to open a clinic that would successfully service the people of Altgeld Gardens. The clinic was financed by Bacon's own resources and Medicaid fees. Bacon describes the insular Altgeld community that led her to initiate the medical facility. She considers the role of Chicago politics in influencing her entrepreneurial endeavor. Dr. Gloria Bacon describes the volume of patients that she received at The Clinic in Altgeld, a medical facility that serviced a population neglected by the healthcare system of Cook County, Illinois. She reveals that she asked for little outside help in the clinic's early years; many were reluctant to work in the name of the people of the Altgeld Gardens housing project. She asserts that health is not limited to biological well-being; socioeconomic factors play a large role in the healthiness of an individual. Dr. Bacon uses her own life as a testament to the importance of self-reliance amongst black people. She maintains that black people must play a greater role in the institutions of their communities. Dr. Bacon chronicles her career, beginning with an early post at a large Chicago hospital. She describes the closing of that hospital as devastating, but admits that she did not carry away lessons from the closing. Her own clinic experienced many of the same trials, many of them financial. Dr. Bacon then di Dr. Gloria Bacon describes her love for black people; she is continually struck by the strength and ability of black people despite the injustices committed against them. She suggests, though, that black people often don't recognize their potential, which has been repeatedly proven by extraordinarily successful black figures. Bacon describes that the medical industry is plagued by elitism. Resources are allocated in such a way that there is a gap in the quality of medical service administered. She recommends pursuit of the medical profession to those who are willing to make sacrifices and are committed to the work. The doctor and part-time performer discusses her lifelong appreciation for the arts. She plans to make more significant inroads into the entertainment industry in the next five years. Dr. Gloria Bacon welcomes the responsibilities that she, having been given much, has to return. Her legacy involves a deep commitment to black people and more generally, those affected by injustices. Bacon shows and d

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