'We're all one' Binghamton's first Black woman to practice medicine, 98, keeps inspiring:
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/...8/70121268007/
From the article: "Inside The Spot diner on Upper Front Street in Binghamton Sunday afternoon, a room filled with dozens of family, friends and community members fell silent as 98-year-old Dr. Beverly Hosten Dorsey stood up from her chair.
With a glistening tiara atop her head, a string of pearls delicately hanging around her neck and a pink and white corsage pinned to her dress, she began to reflect on the nearly 70 years she's spent in the Binghamton area.
"I have been challenged by it," Hosten Dorsey said, "and I have challenged it."
As the afternoon went on, people lined up to speak with her, shared memories and captured new ones with photos.
Hosten Dorsey's entire life and career working in the medical field have focused her efforts on helping others but on this day, the spotlight was on her and the contributions she has made to the Binghamton community.
And while she'll be leaving the area soon — Hosten Dorsey is moving in with her daughter, Jeannine, who lives in Catonsville, Maryland — she will have left it a better place.
Dr. Beverly Hosten Dorsey's impact on the Binghamton community
Born in Manhattan, Hosten Dorsey spent her younger years in Brooklyn, but she has lived in the Binghamton area for the majority of her life.
After her pre-medical studies at Hunter College, she received her medical degree from Howard University, where she met her husband, Binghamton native Dr. Beverly Dorsey.
Hosten Dorsey became Broome County's first Black female physician, practicing medicine for the Endicott-Johnson Corporation in the 1950s. The Dorseys then opened their own practice on Binghamton's West Side, both retiring in August 1997 after 43 years.
Her community involvement didn't stop there. Hosten Dorsey continued to play a major role in the Apalachin Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and served on several other boards and committees throughout Broome County.
Being sorority sisters is how Binghamton city councilwoman Angela Riley and Hosten Dorsey first met. Her impact is limitless, Riley says, as she has always gone above and beyond what is expected of her and her motivation and drive inspires others to do better.
"She's a quiet strength that will overtake you, kind of like a small, kindling flame," Riley said. "But if you blow on it, it explodes. It turns into this robust fire."
How Dr. Hosten Dorsey is being honored
On Sunday, councilwoman Riley and Korin Kirk, a representative for New York State Sen. Lea Webb, each presented Hosten Dorsey with proclamations honoring the contributions she has made both to the city of Binghamton and the entire state.
"She has played such an integral role in the Binghamton community overall," Webb said. "She is someone who is all about empowering marginalized communities and uplifting the voices of folks who are marginalized and especially women."
Over the years, she has received many awards, including being named the 2003 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts Indian Hills Council Inc. and the Binghamton Rotary presented her with an honorary Paul Harris Fellowship Distinguished Citizen Award in 1999.
Reflecting on her life in Binghamton
As she moved through different roles — student to wife to mother to doctor to an active community member — she enjoyed her life in Binghamton, finding it to be a great place to raise a family, and impacted all whose lives she touched.
"I had many different hats," Hosten Dorsey said about her life. "And it was difficult balancing them all. But you try and with the help of the good Lord, you do the best that you can."
She believes in mutual respect, treating everyone as human beings and being true to herself. And her greatest achievement, she said, is being able to spread some joy in life.
Her influence on the community has been remarkable, Adrienne Wheeler, Hosten Dorsey's daughter, says. She is "unwavering in her belief that vulnerable people should be helped" and "she never treats another human being as if they don't count."
"We're all one," Hosten Dorsey said. "We're all people. And we are all related in one way or the other to each other and we must never, never forget."
Photos, a video and more:
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...pjpg&auto=webp
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...pjpg&auto=webp
https://www.pressconnects.com/videos...n/11683204002/
It appears that her husband's family had been residents of Binghamton's West Side since the 1890's(though he was born in Chatham Ontario, an Underground Railroad town with a long time black population) and her parents were from Grenada according to this article:
Spotlight – M. Beverly Hosten, MD | My Town
Also, Trail highlights Binghamton's Underground Railroad history:
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/bi...railroad-trail
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