Dr. Prince: The Brilliant Doctor

My Day

By Dr. J. Ester Davis

Dr. Robert Prince, Jr., (1930-2019) was an officer, a gentleman, colorful, articulate, outspoken, bold and practiced audacity with his brilliance.  He had history, loved history, made history and was a history maker. And since he was a veteran, we will start our November Patriot Series of the ‘truly greatest generation’ of patriots in uniform for our nation.  The African American Soldier.

Several articles were written during Dr. Prince’s lifetime.  “African Americans fought in every war since and including the Revolutionary War, but the Korean War was the first where African American soldiers were in fully integrated units”, reports the retired doctor. Then a young man in his 20’s, Dr. Prince spent “three months of his two-year stint in bloody skirmishes..bargaining with God to get him safely through combat.” He still had plans to study medicine.

Dr. Prince was my doctor when I came to Dallas in the late 60’s.  I did not like him  for a long time, expressly because he wanted me (took me) off  birth control pills.   He wanted me to exercise. . . when I weighed about 100 pounds and to stop by. . . have so and so take my pressure.  By way of explanation, he said I was too young to put on blood pressure medicine and these pills were ‘not made for the black body’.  This statement was my first introduction into the chemical makeup of the black body.  It was much later that he told me his preferred major in college was chemistry. He studied chemistry . . . thought about being a scientist. But the country needed black doctors in black neighborhoods.  Now mind you these doctors could not practice in white hospitals.  So, they built their own.   This is my third article on Dr. Prince, two community affairs networks (CAN) programs and lots of interaction after he left his medical practice.

It is so  rewarding to remember that for 35 years Dr. Prince, Dr. Powell and Dr. Watkins maintained a successfully renown medical practice in a stand alone building on Peabody Street, where the waiting room was always full.  The building still stands.

“Thank you Dr. Prince”, was an article I wrote in 2003 as a UPI Contributor. I was thanking the good doctor for saving my  life.  His groundbreaking information about the birth control pills, sharing it and positioning it in his practice was the audacity of brilliance.  Normally, when I ran into Dr. Prince, we reminisced about my past visits to his office which always culminated into a big laugh about who was most stubborn.  In conclusion, I followed his instructions and so did many other women.

Thank you Mrs. Prince for filling in the gaps for me on this article.

Esterdavis2000@gmail.com