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While segregation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) ended in the 1950s, it took time for the schools to become integrated.  In the 1960s, the school established the Minority Recruitment Committee, headed by Wilson R. Bell.  Bell and his committee, was charged by the Student Affairs Coordination Office to raise black enrollment across the professional schools. 

Elton P. Maddox Jr., Class of 1972. Photograph from the 1972 Mirror, School of Dentistry Yearbook.

In 1968, the first African American student entered the School of Dentistry; Elton Preston Maddox Jr. was born on a farm in Kingston, MD on November 17, 1946.  He was the valedictorian of Carter G. Woodson High School in 1964 and entered Morgan State the following year, graduating from the University with honors in 1968. He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was on reserve status during his time at the School of Dentistry.  Dr. Maddox graduated with honors from the School of Dentistry in 1972; he was the only African American Student during his four year tenure.  In contrast, according to The Happenings, by January 1973 there were 32 African American Students in the School of Dentistry.

Following graduation, Dr. Maddox took an internship at Provident Hospital in Baltimore and served as an Instructor of Fixed Restorative Dentistry at the School of Dentistry. In 1974 he was named Assistant Professor of Oral Health Care Delivery; a post he held until 1977 when he moved to Salisbury, MD to open his own practice.  At the time he was the first and only African American dentist on the Eastern Shore.  On March 12, 2015, Dr. Maddox died of cancer.

_References:

_{“Dr. Elton P. Maddox, Jr.” (2015, March 13). Retrieved from: https://anthonyeward.com/2015/03/13/dr-elton-p-maddox-jr/}

_{“Elton Preston Maddox Jr., DDS ’72.” MDental. (2015). Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/6308}

_{“Maddox weds Miss Stevens.” Afro-American (1893-1988); Mar 11, 1972; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Afro-American pg. 14.}

_{Mirror. (1971). Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/415}

_{Mirror. (1972). Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/416}

_{“Student Affairs Coordination Office Responsible for Raising Black Enrollment.” The Happenings (1971, October). Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/8293}

 _{“University of Maryland School of Dentistry: Celebrating 175 Years of Excellence in Education, Research, Patient Care and Services.” MDental. (2015). Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/6308}