[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING DR. MURIEL PETIONI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the 
great accomplishments of one of this Nation's most accomplished 
community activists and physicians, Dr. Muriel Marjorie Petioni.
  Dr. Petioni has been a role model for all women and is especially 
beloved in my Congressional District. Born on January 1, 1914, in 
Trinidad, young Petioni immigrated to the U.S. in 1919, settling with 
her family in New York City, where her father soon became a prominent 
Harlem physician and activists in the Carribean nationalist movement. 
She followed her father and other relatives into the medical field, 
working locally at Harlem Hospital after she graduated from Howard 
University's School of Medicine in 1937.
  Her community and its residents have never been far from Dr. 
Petioni's mind. After a short break during the 1940s to get married and 
start a family, she returned to the medical profession in 1950, setting 
up her practice in the same office that her father had decades earlier. 
She maintained that practice for over 40 years, working diligently to 
ensure that hardworking residents and their families received the 
proper attention they deserved. When Harlem Hospital stumbled on 
financial difficulties in the 1980s, she founded the Friends of Harlem 
Hospital Center to raise private funding for the institution.
  Dr. Petioni has also been a tireless educator, working hard to open 
up the doors of college and medical school to all underrepresented 
groups, especially women and African Americans. In 1974, she founded 
the Susan Smith McKinney Steward Medical Society for Women, a 
professional association of black women physicians. Named after the 
first African American female doctor, the organization provides 
institutional support for students and its members. Dr. Petioni has 
also worked with the Coalition of 100 Black Women to develop mentorship 
programs to encourage and guide young black women into the medical 
field.
  Dr. Petioni's efforts have also led to her involvement with local 
government officials to ensure equal access to healthcare. She served 
for 30 years as a school physician for Central Harlem for the New York 
City Department of Health and as supervising physician for East and 
Central Harlem from 1980-1984. Today, Petioni is on the board of a 
number of non-profit institutions and government agencies, including 
the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the Columbia School of Social 
Work, the Harlem Council of Elders, and the New York and Harlem 
branches of the American Cancer Society.
  Numerous organizations and institutions have deservedly showered Dr. 
Petioni with awards and other honors. The venerable National Medical 
Association, which has named their annual Women in Medicine Luncheon 
after her. This May, New York's Barnard College is bestowing her with 
The Barnard Medal of Distinction, the school's highest award, for her 
``service to the Harlem community as a physician, community activist 
and philanthropist for over 70 years.''
  It is great to see such a good friend receive the accolades she so 
rightly deserves for the years of service that she has given to our 
community and Nation. Going strong at 93 years of age, she continues to 
be a trailblazer and an inspiration, a New Year's Day gift to us all 
that has touched the lives of countless children and families.

                          ____________________