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Biography
Dr. Erma L. Freeman was a passionate student growing up in Mecklenburg County, where she learned the value of taking pride in the quality of her work from her parents and her teachers. After graduating from St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville and earning a master’s degree in biology at Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) in 1969, she taught school in Lynchburg for four years. With an interest in health care, she enrolled at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry) to study dentistry. She was one of fewer than 10 women and fewer than 10 African Americans in the program of over 400 students, and in 1977 she became the first Black woman to earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the college.
Dr. Freeman operated her own practice near Petersburg for 20 years before working as a dentist for the Virginia Department of Corrections. Throughout her career she stressed the importance of good dental care to her patients’ overall physical and mental health. In 1993, Freeman was the first Black woman dentist appointed to the Virginia Board of Dentistry, and in 1994 she was the second Black woman to serve as president of the Old Dominion Dental Society. Since retiring, she has continued to educate communities in Mecklenburg and southern Virginia about dental hygiene and provided pediatric dental exams with the Colgate Dental Van. By engaging with children in minority communities, she hopes to inspire young people to believe they can achieve their goals regardless of their backgrounds and to not be limited by circumstances. In 2019 the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry honored Freeman with its First 100 Dentists of Color Trailblazer Award.
Nominated by Sherri Bagley, Lawrenceville.
2024 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History honoree, Library of Virginia and Dominion Energy.