After a nearly three-year effort, a stretch of a street in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side now bears the name of Lydia Eudora Ashburne, a pioneering Black physician.
Ashburne, whose parents were enslaved, was the first woman to graduate from Howard University’s medical program and the first Black woman to be licensed to practice medicine in Virginia. After practicing in Virginia for four years, she moved in 1916 to Chicago, where she helped establish the first South Side branch of the United Cerebral Palsy clinic.
She also provided care for children whose parents couldn’t afford it during the Great Depression. She retired in 1977 after a 65-year career, and died in Hyde Park in 1992 at the age of 105.
“Dr. Ashburne was a trailblazer and fierce advocate for health care equity,” Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) said at the unveiling ceremony Saturday morning. “She was resolute in her unwavering commitment to her community.”
East Pershing Road from South Martin Luther King Drive to South Vincennes Avenue was designated Lydia Eudora Ashburne M.D. Way. Ashburne’s practice was at 3856 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., which was across the street from where the ceremony took place.
Ashburne’s relatives, Robinson and city treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin were among the about 120 people watching as the sign was unveiled.
“All I can do is grin,” said Sandra Wallace, a Bronzeville resident who spearheaded the street renaming.
Sandra Wallace (right), a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, applauds during the unveiling ceremony for the new street sign at Lydia Eudora Ashburne M.D. Way on Saturday in Bronzeville.
Violet Miller/Sun-Times
The campaign started when Wallace was trying to find ways to honor the centennial of her sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, in November 2022. She eventually learned about Ashburne, who also had been part of the group.
After researching Ashburne’s background, Wallace got in touch with the city, and eventually Robinson, through former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Tracking down Ashburne’s relatives proved to be more challenging, and searches of archives led nowhere; eventually, one of Wallace’s sorority sisters connected them after realizing she had babysat one of the relatives years ago.
“The more I found out about her, the more intriguing she was to me,” Wallace said. “Something needed to be done for her because she had done so much for the community.”
Alma Ashburne Grey — the great-great niece of the trailblazing doctor, who would visit her while she was studying at Roosevelt University — said she and her other relatives were well aware of Ashburne’s accomplishments and role in breaking down barriers when growing up.
While she didn’t follow in her great-great aunt’s footsteps in the medical field, having been put off by cadavers, she said she hopes it will encourage others.
“I think it will inspire some people,” Ashburne Grey said.
Ashburne had previously been added to the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and received awards from the Cook County Physicians Association, Howard University Medical Alumni Association and United Cerebral Palsy Board of Directors.
However, Wallace said the street renaming carried on her legacy in a different way by reaching others who might discover her accomplishments after seeing the sign.
“She wasn’t there for the accolades,” Wallace said. “So it was for us to do for the future generations.”