Beshears, Rufus Preston, Dr.: Funeral Memorial Book, 1961
Entry/Object ID
AM2018.8.40
Scope and Content
Beshears, Rufus Preston, Dr.: Funeral Memorial Book, 1961. Dr. Beshears (1888-1961) was a local black dentist with offices at 411½ Francis St. He served as a dentist during World War I and in his post-war practice served as contract dentist for the Veterans Administration. A widower, he married Kelsy Beshears, a noted female black activist, who became important in St. Joseph's struggle for civil right.
He was a leader in the black community and a Director of Laurence Jones' Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi.
Notables including Dr. Laurence Jones, Coleman Hawkins mother, attended Dr. Beshears funeral and wrote their names in this book.
Lexicon
Search Terms
Black History, Black History in St. Joseph, Black Dentists, Piney Woods Country Life School
