For Black History Month, KMOX’s Carol Daniel is talking to people in the St. Louis area who are making Black history today.
The third installment of the “Living History” series features Dr. Keisha Elder. She’s the dean of the School of Optometry at University of Missouri - St. Louis. She’s the first Black woman to hold the position not just at UMSL, but at any optometry school nationwide.
Dr. Elder told Carol Daniel that she studied under the first Black man to ever hold a position as Dean of Optometry, but didn’t really think too much about the history she was making when she earned her position.
“I really didn't really think about the magnitude of that accomplishment, nor did I really focus on it at that time, the sadness that it took so long for this milestone to be met,” she told KMOX. “I never really thought I'd be the first African American, the first Black female dean, because I really just assumed that someone had to do it before me.”
Listen to more of her conversation with Carol Daniel:
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