Eleanor L. Makel
A black-and-white photograph of an African-American woman's face, from 1963.
Eleanor L. Makel, from a 1963 publication of the United States Civil Service Commission.
BornMarch 17, 1914
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 1, 1992
Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)medical doctor, hospital administrator, federal official
Known for1963 Federal Woman's Award recipient
President John F. Kennedy with 1963 Federal Woman's Award winners. From left to right: Katie Louchheim, Bessie Margolin, Eleanor L. Makel, Verna C. Mohagen, President Kennedy, Blanche W. Noyes, Eleanor C. Pressly, Katharine Mather. Photograph by Cecil W. Stoughton.

Eleanor L. Makel (March 7, 1914 – March 1, 1992) was a medical doctor, a hospital administrator, and a government official. During the administration of John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Makel was one of the highest ranking black women in the federal government.

Early life

Eleanor Lewis Makel was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Alexander E. Makel and Florence (Flora) Lewis Makel. Her parents ran a clothing store; her mother was active in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and in the Progressive Business Association.[1][2] Eleanor Makel attended Howard University, graduating in 1938.[3] In 1943 she graduated from Meharry Medical College.[4][5][6]

Career

Makel was the first woman doctor admitted to a residency in internal medicine at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington.[7] She also worked at the District of Columbia Health Department, and in the student health program at Howard University, early in her career.[5] She was a medical officer in the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, based at St. Elizabeths Hospital from 1953.[8] She was the first black person to hold a professional staff position at the hospital.[9]

In 1963 Makel was one of the six recipients of the Federal Woman's Award,[7] presented to career federal employees who made significant contributions to their programs.[10] Makel was one of the highest ranking African-American women in the federal government during the Kennedy administration.[11] By 1971[12] she was Director of the Medical and Surgical Branch at St. Elizabeths.[13] In 1980, she was among the hospital administrators accused of discriminatory promotion in the lawsuit Daye v. Harris.[14] She gave an oral history interview about her career in medicine and government in 1983, for the Women in the Federal Government Oral History Project at Harvard University.[11][15]

Makel also held a teaching position at the George Washington University School of Medicine.[7]

Personal life

Eleanor L. Makel married Gerald E. Roberts, a law librarian.[9] She died in 1992, aged 77 years, in Washington, D.C.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Hawkins, John Russell (1916). Centennial Encyclopedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A. M. E. Church. p. 154.
  2. ↑ "Progressive Business Association Hold Public Session". Philadelphia Tribune. February 24, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  3. ↑ "Office, Dean of Liberal Arts School, Releases List of Students Qualifying for Honor Roll". The Hilltop. October 27, 1937. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Women Physicians Graduated from Meharry Medical College, 1891-1967" Journal of the National Medical Association (March 1968): 155.
  5. 1 2 "Dr. Eleanor Makel To Be Cited During Federal Woman's Award". Chicago Defender. April 17, 1963. p. 15 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ "71 Will Graduate at Meharry Today". The Tennessean. June 6, 1943. p. 48. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 "Dr. Makel Winner of Federal Award". Baltimore Afro American. April 16, 1963. p. 10. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  8. ↑ "People". Jet: 43. May 9, 1963.
  9. 1 2 Dunnigan, Alice A. (May 3, 1963). "Woman Physician Wins Many 'Firsts'". Alabama Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Award to Honor 6 Women". The Courier-Journal. April 7, 1963. p. 13. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 "Women in the federal government oral history project - The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  12. ↑ La Hay, Wauhillau (December 18, 1971). "Potomac Patter". El Paso Herald-Post. p. 6. Retrieved June 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Earl g. Graves, Ltd (January 1974). "Blacks in Government". Black Enterprise: 25.
  14. ↑ "Marian Aldena Daye, Appellant, v. Patricia R. Harris, Secretary, Department of Health Andhuman Services, 655 F.2d 258 (D.C. Cir. 1981)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  15. ↑ Morantz-Sanchez, Regina (2005-10-12). Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. xxviii. ISBN 9780807876084.
  16. ↑ "Obituary Listing". JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 271 (6): 472f. 1994-02-09. doi:10.1001/jama.1994.03510300080044. ISSN 0098-7484.
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