American physician
This article is about the
Diné physician. For the American nurse and civilian physician, see
Beulah Ream Allen.
Beulah Melvin Allen |
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| Born | July 19, 1937
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| Occupation | physician |
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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
