"Gwendolyn-Wilson-Fowler" (1907-1997)

Was an African American pharmacist,the first African American woman licensed in
Iowa.She also became the first African American woman from Iowa to serve in the
United States Foreign services,when she posted to Vietnam in the 1950s.
She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of  Fame in 1987.

Gwendolyn Mary Wilson was born in Dardanelle,Arkansas to Fannie (nee Robinson) and Dr. Cornelius Wilson,who moved his family and medical practice to De Moines,Iowa in 1913.She attended Bryan Elementary School and the West High School of Des Moines,before going to a high school preparatory training school on the campus of  Rust College,in Holly Springs,Mississippi.Graduating with honors in 1926,
she returned to Iowa and enrolled in  pharmacy at the Drake College of Pharmacy,In
Iowa City.After a year,Gwendolyn transferred to the Des Moines College of Pharmacy,which later became the Drake College of Pharmacy,earning her degree in
chemistry and pharmaceuticals in 1930,the first African American woman in Iowa to
attain a pharmacy degree. Upon officially registering as a pharmacist in Iowa in 1931,Gwendolyn became the first registered African American pharmacist in the state.

After completing her education,she was unable to find employment in Iowa and returned to Holly Springs,Mississippi,where she taught for a year.Gwendolyn returned to Des Moines,worked as a waitress for a time before being hired as a maid by Winnie Ewing Coffin.Winnie was an heiress who bequeathed a trust to the Des Moines Art Center in Honor of her husband Nathan Emory Coffin for the purchase of artworks.The two women embarked upon a world tour in 1936 to purchase artwork for the museum which was being constructed.Gwendolyn's diary reveals that they had spent most of the year in California,setting out in November 1936 traveling from Seattle to Vancouver and Victoria British Columbia,Canada en route to Hawaii.by early December,they landed in Yokohoma,Japan and then proceeded to Hong Kong,
China,Vietnam,Cambodia,Thailand,Austria,Sumatra,Bali,Java,Singapore,and back to Japan,where the trip ended following Winnie's death sudden death.Gwendolyn returned to Des Moines and on January 19 1938 she married Lafe H.Fowler.
Through she would keep his last name,they were divorced in 1946.

In 1944,Gwendolyn was able to secure employment in her field when she was hired by the state of Iowa as a pharmacy clerk.She worked for the state for 9 years,and then took a constant's position at the Iowa State Department of Agriculture laboratory working as a chemist.She caught the attention of the federal administration and was hired as one of the only 9 women and only woman of color to
work in the United States Foreign Service.Prior to her appointment to Vietnam she serve as a chemist In the US Department of  Agriculture's commercial laboratory in
Washington, D.C. undergoing training.In 1955,she was selected for an overseas assignment by the United States Foreign Operations Administration for a hospital post in Ethiopia,through she was approved,the assignment was withdrawn because was a woman.A few weeks later,she approved for a similar post to Saigon.In 1957 she returned for a brief visit from Viet Nam,where she was serving as a program analyst and training officer.In 1959,Gwendolyn was posted to Korea,and then returned to the Iowa Department of Agriculture laboratory after completion of her
foreign service.In 1962,she began working as a staff pharmacist at Broadlawns Polk County Hospital,where she remained until her 1974 retirement.

During her retirement,she was active in many volunteers organizations.Gwendolyn Brooks was a lifelong member of the NAACP,active in the American Association of University Women,the Red Cross,the Des Moines Civic Music Board,the Iowa State Drug Abuse Council, the Wilkie House and serve on the Board of Directors of the YWCA.Gwendolyn was appointed to the Iowa Statewide Health Coordinating Council by Governor Robert Dolph Ray  received the  Governor's Volunteer  Award. In 1987,
she was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame.
Her papers were donated to the Iowa Women's Archives Collection at the University of Iowa Libaries in Iowa City Iowa.




































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