Blacks@Dartmouth 1775 to 1960

Dr. Thornton Wood, a well-known Harlem doctor for more than 50 years, was buried in the White Plains Rural Cemetery, White Plains, N.Y. following funeral services at the St. Phillips Church in Harlem on Jan 31. Dr. Wood, 95, died of natural causes in his home on Jan 27.

He was born on July 28, 1897, to Allen Wood and Fannie Langley Wood. He attended Dartmouth College, where he earned a degree in medicine on June 19, 1919. In a winter carnival at Dartmouth College on Feb. 10, 1917, he was first in the ski jump. He went on to earn other degrees at New York University, and he was the first Black doctor to graduate from Bellevue Medical College in 1921.

Dr. Wood served in the U.S. Army during world War II from 1942 to 1946 and retired after achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps. Dr. Wood met his wife, Ardell, in 1929, and after a long courtship, they were married on Aug. 24, 1942.

Dr. Wood was a practicing physician in Harlem for close to 55 years before retiring in 1974. He worked for Consolidated Edison and was also on the staff of Harlem Hospital. He is survived by his widow, Ardell, his niece, Ardell M. Simpson, his daughter, Fannie Bond, and other relatives.