Celebrating 100 Years

The 1920s

The good old days… In October 1922, there were just thirty-five charter member dentists in the newly- organized East Coast District Dental Society. They all were white, male and individually declared “ethical” by the Board of Censors and Ethics. Dr. D. E. Sheehan, Miami was the first president.

Their interest in quality continuing education and their concerns for their patients and each other were paramount. As it is today, the dental politics of the times related to licensing laws, fees and dues.

Issues of those times

In the October 11, 1924 minutes of the society’s Executive Committee, the elected Secretary recorded, in his beautiful Spenserian handwriting, that a motion passed directing, “…the delegate to the state meeting be instructed to object to the sum of $3 for annual license renewal as excessive.”

Annual dues to the district were $4, FDA $3 and ADA $2. They contributed $1 a year to the relief fund. The total was $11. It is interesting that the Relief Fund contribution designated to help needy fellow dentists was 15% of the dues…a biblical tithe.

About Budgets

In the second quarter of 1928, the Secretary-Treasurer reported, “…there is $111.60 cash in the First National Bank of Miami, and $209.25 was on deposit when the Ft. Lauderdale Bank and Trust closed its doors.”

The great depression was at its zenith, but by 1921 the financial report showed $561 cash on hand. The membership had more than doubled to 72 paid dentists. In 1934, a Treasurer’s report listed paying $14 for 56 dinners at 25 cents per person. What a bargain compared to 1997’s usual $30-$45 per person!

The 1930s

Tragedy in a Miami park: On February 15, 1933, Dr. Rupert H. Gillespie, then East Coast Secretary, wrote descriptively of the unexpected ending to a General Membership meeting being held in the Huntington Building in Downtown Miami.

“Due to the lateness of the hour and further, “… due to the fact the President-Elect of the United States who was in a city park, but two blocks distant, had escaped attempted assassination, the election of the officers was deferred to a called meeting at which time a larger attendance is hoped for.”

The incident occurred in Bayfront Park, Miami, when a disgruntled citizen tried unsuccessfully to shoot Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tragically, the Mayor of Chicago took the bullet intended for FDR and died.

Pioneer Families

75 years later, there were only two familiar names of the original charter group in East Coast’s dental family. One was Dr. Glenn O. Skaggs, a Life Member, who lived in East Ridge Retirement Community. The other was Dr. Benjamin L. Wilkerson, Jr., a retired endodontist living in Southwest Miami, who also reported that Dr. L. Wilkerson, also a charter member, “… is doing well, but doesn’t go out at night much anymore.”

Another descendent of an early East Coast member was Dr. Lindsey D. Pankey, Jr., an active South Miami orthodontist. He was the son of Dr. L. D. Pankey, and a thennew practitioner to Miami and the East Coast District in 1926.

By July 1936, there were 125 East Coast members, which was about a 280% growth in 14 years and 85% of the market share. Dr. E. C. Kunsford reported on the statistics with a bit of wry humor, “…146 (dentists) in the district; 125 in good standing, 21 good, bad and indifferent.”

Dentists were known as golfing aficionados in those early days. It was officially recorded in June 1937 that, “Our good friend and fellow member, Dr. Arthur Kellner, Mayor of Hollywood, caused a near riot when he invited the East Coast District members to a barbeque and all day golf match at Hollywood Country Club.”

And they took Dr. Kellner at his word, as evidenced by the crowd of nattily dressed members gathering for a group picture the following year at the Hollywood Beach Hotel (see photo). Dr. Ruth Tichenor, pictured on the far right, was the first woman dentist member of the ECDDS. A graduate of the University of Louisville in 1923, she joined in 1924. Dr. Tichenor practiced general dentistry in downtown Miami.

The 1940s

In 1940, a banquet in Coral Gables marked the 100th anniversary of organized dentistry. Dr. T. A. Price introduced a nightclub entertainer from “The Drum” for a series of “stories and imitations.” One can only guess the possible rowdy content.

The fearsome forties and fabulous fifties brought far reaching changes during and after WWII. The dental population all but disappeared when Uncle Sam called, creating a critical shortage of dentists to serve the civilian population. Procurement Boards were set up during the national emergency to assign practitioners to areas of need. ECDDS adopted a policy that, “… those dentists who were licensed in Florida after the declaration of war, and who would not accept the critical need area assignment would be dropped from membership.”

Minutes of a June 6, 1942 meeting recorded by Secretary Dr. William. J. Hughes tells of showing a Technicolor sound film entitled, “Fighting the Fire Bomb.” The movie explained procedures for fighting incendiary bombs in the home. A German invasion was feared. “This was educational and most interesting,” wrote Dr. Hughes, who was later seriously injured while serving in action as a US Navy dental officer.

After the war, those who served their country resumed their interrupted practices. Other dentists from colder climates passed the Florida Board and migrated to South Florida where the population was exploding. There was room for all. The district dues were now $50. By 1958, the Executive Council decided it was time for a public presence in the community. A lease was signed with the Dade County Medical Association for two small rooms in its new building at Brickell Avenue and SE 13th Street, south of downtown Miami. A full-time Executive Secretary was hired at an annual $3000 salary. The society struggled to administer programs and services in a diverse geography and population group – from Key West in the south to Vero Beach in the north. Meetings were a long ride for many leaders and discussions were sometimes heated. In 1966, the outgoing president, Dr. Andrew A. Henry remarked he was tempted many times to quote a fellow being tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail, “If it weren’t for the honor, I’d just as soon walk.”

1960s and ’70s Changes

In 1966, the ECDDS was redistricted, creating the Atlantic Coast District from the Dania cutoff canal to tiny Sebastian, north of Vero Beach. East Coast was centralized to include the Greater Hollywood area in Broward County, all of Dade County and south through the Florida Keys. More than 40 years later, the geography is the same. Barbara Simms was the Executive Director of the society .

The Refugees Came

During the 1960s and 1970s , thousands of Cuban refugees arrived in South Florida seeking asylum from the tyranny of Fidel Castro’s harsh, Communist regime. Several hundred dentists were among them. A few were allowed to treat fellow refugees in a clinic in the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. Others were tutored by volunteers from the ECDDS to pass the National Board and entered US Dental schools. Forced to relocate temporarily in colder climates for two to three years, most returned to South Florida and private practice. Many of these hardy scholars eventually joined leadership of the society.

Long in the planning, the “June-In-January” Miami Winter Meeting opened to an enthusiastic audience in January 1971. A tradition of Southern hospitality continued through the next decade.

The society took a giant step in 1976, becoming a property owner with the purchase of a 1,500 sq. foot condominium office suite in Coral Gables.

1980s and 1990s

Enlarged twice, the headquarters in 1997 included 2,500 sq. feet of attractively decorated executive offices evaluated on the tax rolls at $200,000. The space was owned free of a mortgage. A full time staff of seven adminis-

tered the society’s policies and programs under the direction of Don Clark, replacing Barbara Simms who retired after 37 years at the helm. Other executive directors include Rosie Small, who ran the association from 1999 to 2006, and Yolanda Marrero, who has been with the association for 21 years, 16 of them as the director.

New avenues for licensure opened to dental graduates from other countries. By 1997, East Coast dentists included graduates of more than 50 foreign dental schools and boasted a culturally diverse dental community speaking many languages.

1n 1995, Dr. Ramon A. Sanchez became the first Cuban exile dentist elected President of the ECDDS. The membership included a wide ethnic mix, about 20% of whom were female, and among them, Dr. D. Georgina Garcia, a Miami Beach general dentist, who became the first woman president in 1998. There have been more women presidents since then, including Drs. Anita Pandey, Irene Marron-Tarrazi, Beatriz Terry, Jeannette Hall, Elaine deRoode and Mariana Velazquez.

During this decade, the ECDDS changed its name to the South Florida District Dental Association, which made more sense with the geography of the re-districted component.

The New Century

Fresh on the heels of the start of the 21st century, our nation would be attacked in a most unlikely scenario, when two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center, more commonly known as the “Twin Towers.” As is so well known, that sad event occurred on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. By Thursday September 13, a group of men had been deployed from the Fort Lauderdale Airport to New York, their destination being “Ground Zero”, where the Towers once stood. Among those men was Dr. William E. Silver who was one of four dentists from Florida activated by the Office of Emergency Prepared-

The Wave of Technology

During the last decade, technology has advance more quickly than expected. With electronic mail, websites and social media being utilized more and more, the South Florida District Dental Association created a website, and made the move to “green” meetings, where announcements and agendas are sent by e-mail to the members. It is now commonplace to see laptops, iPads and e-readers being used by most everyone at meetings from local council meetings to the big state and national meetings.

Diversity

We have come a long way from the original thirty-five white male dentists, who founded the East Coast District Dental Society. Our Board today is comprised of both men and women, from various cultures, ethnicities and ages. Our membership is rich in diversity and represents dentists in all phases of their professional lives and practice models.

The Message Remains the Same

The South Florida District Dental Association faces the future with optimism. The challenges are many and the stakes are high. The future of dentistry and how it is practiced rests in the hands of thoughtful, visionary leaders willing to give their time and talent to preserve and improve what those 35 colleagues began in 1922.

Celebrate 100 years of the SFDDA’s founding at the 1920s-Themed Annual Business Meeting, on April 13, 2022! Tropical Acres Restaurant Register at www.sfdda.org

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