Dolores Janet (Cooper) Shockley PhD (1930 - 2020)

Born 21 Apr 1930 in Clarksdale, Coahoma, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Died 10 Oct 2020 at age 90 in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Dolores (Cooper) Shockley PhD is Notable.

Dolores Cooper Shockley, neuroscientist, pharmacologist, and educator, was the first Black woman to receive a PhD in pharmacology in the USA and one of the first Black students to receive a PhD from Purdue University. ^[1]

Delores Janey Cooper was born in rural Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1930 to Fred Cooper and Cozetta Gilliam.

She married Dr. Thomas E. Shockley, a microbiologist, c. 1952. They had four children^[2] and were married for 43 years until Thomas died.^[1]

She died on October 10, 2020 in Nashville^[3] and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.^[4]

Research Notes

• When Dolores was about 16 she moved from the Clarksdale Separate school system to Mary Holmes College, a junior college in Clay County, Mississippi^[5] The dates associated with the "Educable Children" forms in the FamilySearch database are not accurate, but there is usually an age associated with each child that will help to date the attendance year.

• Dolores was born five days after her family was enumerated on the 1930 U.S. Census.

• The 1940 U.S. Census record has not been found for Dolores and her siblings.

• At the time of the 1950 U.S. Census Dolores was a student at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

• A personal biography/obituary has been placed on Dolores's Find A Grave profile.

• Dolores's mother's Census records:
• 1930 Census: "1930 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1930; Census Place: Clarksdale, Coahoma, Mississippi; Enumeration District: 0014; FHL microfilm: 2340877
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6224 #1105992300 (accessed 17 June 2022)
  Cazetta (28), wife, in household of Fred A (37) in 535 Gazoo, Clarksdale, Coahoma, Mississippi, USA. Born in Mississippi.
• 1940 Census: "1940 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1940; Census Place: Clarksdale, Coahoma, Mississippi; Roll: m-t0627-02017; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 14-20
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2442 #120887708 (accessed 17 June 2022)
  Coletta Cooper (33), widowed daughter, in household of Letha Gilliam (69) in Clarksdale, Coahoma, Mississippi. Born in Mississippi.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Cooper_Shockley
2. ↑ Obituary, "Dr. Dolores Cooper Shockley," in [tennessean.com Tennessean,] Oct. 13-14, 2020; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103961180/ : accessed 17 Jun 2022).
3. ↑ Brinley Hineman, "Dr. Dolores Shockley, first Black woman to get a Ph.D. in pharmacology in US, dies at 90," Tennessean, 15 Oct 2020, (https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2020/10/15/dolores-shockley-first-black-woman-get-ph-d-pharmacology-dies/3655194001/ : accessed 17 Jun 2022); image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103960236/obituary-for-dolores-cooper-shockley-ag/ : accessed 17 Jun 2022).
4. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #217486592
   Memorial page for Dr Dolores Janet Cooper Shockley (21 Apr 1930-10 Oct 2020), citing Greenwood Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Family Is Forever (contributor 47526766).
5. ↑ "Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6C-683D : 2 March 2021), Delores Cooper, 1947; citing School enrollment, , Clay, Mississippi, United States, Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/217486592/dolores-janet-shockley: accessed 08 May 2023), memorial page for Dr Dolores Janet Cooper Shockley (21 Apr 1930–10 Oct 2020), Find a Grave Memorial ID 217486592, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by Family Is Forever (contributor 47526766).Find A Grave: Memorial #217486592

• "United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:6X2R-SRPB : Sun Jan 29 08:54:05 UTC 2023), Entry for Doloris J Cooper, 10 April 1950.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q87296326, en:Wikipedia

• "Services Sunday for Mrs. Cooper," The Clarksdale [Mississippi] Press Register, 13 Feb 1987, page 2, column 3-4; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89933424/ : accessed 17 Jun 2022).

• Wikipedia, Mary Holmes College, online resource accessed 8 May 2023[1]