Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda (February 9, 1908 – May 1, 2007) was a Japanese American physician and was the first Asian American woman to graduate from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.[1][2][3] Alongside Kazue Togasaki, Shinoda was one of the first women of Japanese ancestry in the United States to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1933.[1][4] Additionally, she was the first Japanese American intern at what is now Los Angeles General Medical Center.[1]
Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda | |
|---|---|
 Megumi Yamaguchi (later Shinoda), from the 1928 yearbook of Barnard College | |
| Born | February 9, 1908 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Died | May 1, 2007 |
| Children | Jean Shinoda Bolen |
| Relatives | Fumiko Yamaguchi (sister) Grace Aiko Nakamura (niece) |
Personal life
editIn 1908, Shinoda was born as Megumi Yamaguchi to Dr. Minosuke Yamaguchi and Yuki Sasaki Yamaguchi in Cleveland, Ohio.[1][5] She had 6 siblings.[5] One of her older sisters was Fumiko Yamaguchi.[6] After her father finished medical school in 1918, her family moved to Inwood.[1][7]
Around 1935, Shinoda married Joseph Shinoda.[1][8] On June 29, 1936, Shinoda gave birth to their daughter, Jean Shinoda Bolen.[1] Her niece was Grace Aiko Nakamura.[9]
Education
editShinoda graduated from Barnard College in 1928 with Phi Beta Kappa honors.[5][10][3] Her sister Aiko Yamaguchi Takaoka graduated from Barnard in 1925.[10] Shinoda started attended Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in Fall of 1929.[1] She graduated in 1933 with Alpha Omega Alpha honors and became the first Asian-American woman to graduate from Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.[1] Shinoda's residency was at, what is now called, Los Angeles General Medical Center and was the first Japanese-American intern at that hospital.[1]
Career
editAfter her residency, she started a general practice in Los Angeles focusing on obstetrics and gynaecology.[1] Between 1939 and 1941, Shinoda also authored a medical column in the newspaper Rafu Shimpo.[11] During an interview with Densho, her niece claimed that Shinoda's column was the first medical column in the newspaper.[9]
Due to Executive Order 9066, Shinoda was forced to close her business and moved back to New York City.[1] After World War II, Shinoda is reported to have returned to Los Angeles and restarted a medical practice at 224 1/2 East 1st Street in Los Angeles.[12] Around this time, she established a new medical practice in Hollywood focusing on psychiatry.[1] In February 1958, Shinoda was named as one of the claimants that, in accordance with the Japanese-American Claims Act, the Japanese Claims Section of the Department of Justice had awarded monetary compensation for property loss.[13]
She retired in 1980.[1]
In a 1986 political advertisement published in the Pacific Citizen, Shinoda was listed as a supporter of the Nixon-Agnew U.S. presidential ticket.[14]
Death
editShinoda died on May 1, 2007, in her Los Angeles home at age 99.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Zhang, Jingwen (2023-05-31). "Megumi Shinoda: First Asian American Female Graduate". Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ a b "SHINODA, M.D.,Megumi Yamaguchi". The Los Angeles Times. May 8, 2007. p. 77.
- ^ a b "Celebrating the Women Who Did It First". Barnard College. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ Ware, Susan, ed. (2004). Notable American women. 5: Completing the Twentieth Century, A - Z / Susan Ware, ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Pr. p. 639. ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ a b c "Minosuke Yamaguchi (death notice)". The Los Angeles Times. 1956-04-25. p. 42. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ Barnard Alumnae. Vol. 74. Barnard College. Barnard College. March 1985.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: others (link)Barnard Alumnae. Vol. 74. Barnard College. Barnard College. March 1985 - ^ "Tokyo on the Hudson: Inwood's Early Japanese Community – | My Inwood". 2023-03-26. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Obituary for Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda, M.D. at Fukui Mortuary, Inc". www.fukuimortuary.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ a b Shinoda Nakamura Interview. January 25, 2012.Densho ID: denshovh-ngrace-01. https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-1003/ddr-densho-1003-8-transcript-20f2fcd04c.htm Archived 2022-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Barnard Alumnae. Vol. 60. No. 1. Barnard College. Barnard College. September 1970. https://archive.org/details/barnardalumnae601barn
- ^ Yoo, David (2023). Growing Up Nisei: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924-49. University of Illinois Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780252054334.
- ^ "PROFESSIONAL NOTICES" (PDF). Pacific Citizen. 17 August 1946. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Justice Dept. lists 33 claimants for February awards"(PDF) Archived 2023-05-07 at the Wayback Machine. Pacific Citizen. 7 March 1958. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "This Is the Time NIXON • AGNEW" (PDF). Pacific Citizen. 1 November 1988. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.