By Norma Adams-Wade
What must it have been like to personally know exceptional Dallas physician Dr. Charles Victor Roman, (1864-1934) also known as Dr. C. V. Roman, and entrepreneur extraordinaire Dock Rowen (1854-1932)?
The two contemporaries of the late 1800s and the first three decades of the 1900s left footprints in Dallas Black history that still resonate today. Parkland Health & Hospital System changed the name of RedBird Health Center to C. V. Roman Health Center two years ago on October 20, 2022. Parkland officials said the name change was a nod to the legacy Dr. Roman left as a physician and champion for improving health and social conditions of under-served people, particularly African-Americans. When the influential health czar died in 1934 at age 70, executives of the published journal of the historically Black National Medical Association — where Dr. Roman was a founder and first president — lauded him for his vast achievements, which also included him being the journal’s first editor from its beginning in 1908 to 1918. He then was with the NMA editorial board until 1934 when he died.
The editorial tribute said:
“He was a tower of strength and a bulwark of defense for the National Medical Association, (founded in 1895) and for the Negro Medical Profession… In wisdom and in learning, in wit and philosophy, he was without a peer among his contemporaries, nor are we aware that in these respects he was surpassed by his predecessors. …His storehouse of wit and wisdom seemed inexhaustible.”
Two similar-sounding names in same Dallas Black history era
Invoking the name Dr. C. V. Roman made me personally recall the similar-sounding name Dock Rowen. He was another luminary, but less-known, in Dallas Black history. I had heard many stories about Rowen as a news reporter covering the local African-American community. Dock was his legal first name. History provides no reason why.
The similar-sounding names of these two historic figures made me pay attention when Parkland officials began to speak of Dr. Roman. I struggled to avoid confusing the two men. As I researched them, my appreciation for them both grew.
My conversations with Dr. Robert Prince Jr., a Dallas obgyn physician and community-minded sage, helped even more. I marveled at all the Dallas Black history Dr. Prince contained in his head and shared at every opportunity before he died in 2019 at age 89.
Interestingly, Dr. Prince is the great-grandson of Dock Rowen, the outstanding local Black entrepreneur who came into his own at the beginning of the 20th Century. We will discuss more about Rowen later.
Dr. Prince was first to tell me that well-known Bexar Street that leads to historical BonTon in South Dallas/Fair Park was previously named Rowen Ave. Research substantiates his information, although some records spell the street name as “Rowan Ave” before it became Bexar Street.
Dr. Robert Prince left a book legacy
I cherish my autographed copy of Dr. Prince’s book A History of Dallas from a Different Perspective — published in 1993 by Nortex Press. The informative book imparts nuggets of Dallas Black History not found in many other history books. Dr. Roman is among numerous other Dallas Black pathfinders that Dr. Prince mentions in his valuable book, including practically all the pioneer Black physicians in Dallas and other African-American leaders in fields ranging from business to the arts. The similar-sounding name of Dr. Roman and Dock Rowen at first confused me concerning which hero the clinic planned to honor. Dr. Roman came out a little ahead in terms of us remembering his legacy. Rowen’s achievements moved in a different direction, but his status was by no means less.
More about Dock Rowen
Rowen was an early Black entrepreneur well-known for his grocery store and meat market and later an adjacent pharmacy in the North Dallas Freedmen’s Town and still another in Deep Ellum of North Dallas. Rowen’s business successes expanded into insurance, loans, bail bonds, dry goods, mortuary, and real estate making him one of Dallas’ wealthiest African-Americans during the late 1800s and early 1900s. His wealth enabled him to build a 13-room showplace Victorian home in North Dallas’ Freedmen’s Town. Rowen helped organize a church, Evening Chapel, in his neighborhood, mainly so that domestic workers could attend evening services after work on Sundays. The church later moved and became Boll Street Christian Church, then moved again and became Cedar Crest Christian Church. Rowen was a part of the North Texas Colored Fair Association in the year 1900 in Dallas.
He was one of the last living founders of Freedmen’s Cemetery at Lemmon Avenue and N. Central Expressway (I-45). History also reports that Rowen was the first African-American in Dallas to own an automobile, a 1912 Cole. Rowen died of a heart attack at age 78 in 1932 and is buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in the Pleasant Grove community.
Parkland recognizes Dr. C. V. Roman
The Parkland clinic in Oak Cliff has been open now for two years and has become one of the centerpieces of the renovated Southwest Center Mall, formerly Red Bird Shopping Center, on Camp Wisdom Road near Highway 67.
I was just thinking…and still marvel that Dr. C. V. Roman stood out from the crowd enough that the recent Parkland clinic as well as the local C. V. Roman Medical Society are both named in his honor. Even today, Dr. Roman’s name still is on the lips of numerous locals who use services that have been named in his honor.
When I read about all that this man accomplished — against the odds – in the racist era in which he lived, in Dallas and other states, I am humbled…and likewise for Rowen. Let’s admit that when you were of African or Caribbean descent, the city of Dallas and the state of Texas historically were harsh, compared to more progressive parts of the country. Even today, the state of Texas still is comparatively restrictive for forward-thinkers, especially now for women, of any race.
Dr. Roman’s life before Dallas
Before he moved to Dallas in 1893, Dr. Roman had been a physician, historian, educator, speaker, prolific author, civil rights activist, and recipient of two honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Dr. Roman was born in Williamsport, PA on the 4th of July, 1864 — one year after President Abe Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation legally ending American slavery. He died in Nashville, Tennessee in 1934 at age 70. The physician grew up on a Canadian farm but later lived in Dallas as an adult. His father had been an enslaved African who became a fugitive after he escaped captivity through the underground railroad. That path led Dr. Roman’s dad from Maryland to Canada before the Civil War. Roman’s mother’s parents also had escaped slavery and became accomplished farmers and landowners also in Canada where their son Dr. Roman grew up. The future physician began working various jobs as a pre-teen and at age 17 his right leg was amputated after a work injury at a Dundas, Canada cotton mill.
After his injury, Roman concentrated on his education, moved to Kentucky in the U.S., began teaching, and later earned his medical degree in 1890 from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He became a leading medical professor at Meharry and Fisk University, both in Nashville.
Dr. Roman’s life in Dallas
Dr. Roman and his wife Margaret Vorhees Roman moved to Dallas in 1893, and he continued his private practice that he had begun in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was an ophthalmologist who treats the eyes and otolaryngologist who treats ear, nose, and throat conditions. He was a medical lecturer with the U.S. Army during World War I and published more than 60 articles and publications. The C. V. Roman Medical Society was founded in Dallas in 1895 as the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the historically Black National Medical Association. That was two years after Dr. Roman and his wife moved here from Clarksville, Tenn. The society’s mission and history statement says their group was ”named in honor of Dr. Roman’s remarkable legacy.”
The Society’s current local president is Dr. Melanie L. Hafford, director of Bariatric Surgery at the Frisco division of UT Southwestern Medical Center. She is noted for outstanding patient treatment for weight management and obesity reduction. She has been named multiple times among D Magazine’s Best Doctors in Dallas and Collin County, as a 2022 and 2023 D Magazine Woman of Influence, and a K104-FM Radio Changemaker.
Conclusion
Dr. Roman and Dock Rowen — born 10 years apart in the mid-1800s — became forces of nature as they came of age before the 20th Century began. They died two years apart in the early 1930s.– Rowen at age 78, then Roman at age 70. What better way to pay homage than to call their similar names often and remember them always: Dr. Charles Victor Roman, aka Dr. C. V. Roman, and Dock Rowen. Thank you both for your superb service.
Norma Adams-Wade, is a proud Dallas native, University of Texas at Austin journalism graduate and retired Dallas Morning News senior staff writer. She is a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists and was its first southwest regional director. She became The News’ first Black full-time reporter in 1974. norma_adams_wade@ yahoo.com.
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