Beulah Melvin Allen
Born
July 19, 1937
NationalityAmerican
Occupationphysician

Beulah Melvin Allen (born July 19, 1937) was a Diné physician. In 1952, at the age of 23, she was the first Miss Navajo Nation.[1]

Life

Beulah Margaret Melvin was born in Eureka, California on July 19, 1937, moving with her family at 18 months old to Fort Defiance, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation.[2][3][4] Her mother was a nurse at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital.[4] In 7th grade, she moved to California and stayed there until she finished high school.[2] In 1952, Melvin was selected as Miss Navajo at the annual Navajo Nation Fair. At the time, the competition was determined by whichever contestant received the largest applause.[5]

Starting in 1954, she attended Barnard College, planning to study there for two years.[6] In 1955, she attended Arizona State College, and in 1956, she spent her junior year at the University of Oregon.[2]

She attended Cornell Medical College in 1958 and 1959, receiving a Navajo Tribal scholarship to attend both years.[7][8][9][10] In 1961, she graduated from The University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.[11]

On November 14, 1969, Beulah married Richard N. Allen in Contra Costa, California.[12][13]

She received a fellowship to attend the University of Arizona College of Medicine, graduating around the early 1980s.[14][15]

In 1981, she won the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Merit Award.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Krupat, Arnold (2018). Changed Forever, Volume I: American Indian Boarding-School Literature. SUNY Press. p. 325. ISBN 978-1-4384-6916-4.
  2. 1 2 3 "Navajo Indian Now UO Coed". The Eugene Guard. 19 December 1956. p. 13A. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Beulah Margaret Melvin | California Birth Index, 1905-1995". Retrieved 4 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  4. 1 2 "Beulah Allen to Receive Medical Degree". Navajo Times. May 7, 1981. p. 10. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Miss Navajo". PBS. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Brown, Tobia (18 October 1954). "First Navajo Here Plans on Nursing". Barnard Bulletin. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  7. ↑ Cornell University Medical College Announcement. Vol. 50. Cornell University. p. 112. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Cornell University Medical College Announcement. Vol. 51. Cornell University. p. 113. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "Navajo Tribal Group Allocates $168,930 In Funds for '58-'59 Scholarship Awards". Arizona Daily Sun. 21 August 1958. p. 11. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Tribe Gives 119 Free College Scholarships". The Gallup Independent. 9 September 1959. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "Indian Education: America's Unpaid Debt. A Compendium Report Covering Calendar Years 1980-1981. The Eighth Annual Report to the Congress of the United States" (PDF). National Advisory Council on Indian Education. June 1982. pp. 49–50. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Beulah M Melvin". California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  13. ↑ "Beulah M Cremer". California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  14. 1 2 "Navajo woman honored". Tucson Citizen. 13 August 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Washington fellowship announced for 18 Indian students from Arizona". Arizona Republic. 15 April 1980. p. B2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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