Dr. Maynard H. Law

Dr. Maynard H. Law (1909-1999) served the Roanoke community at both Burrell Memorial Hospital and the V.A. Medical Center. Born in Roanoke on December 17, 1909, he attended Lincoln University and Howard University Medical School, obtaining his MD  in 1934. After a one year internship at St. Louis’s City Hospital, Dr. Law opened a private practice in Roanoke in 1935.

During World War II, Dr. Law was a medical officer and earned a bronze star for his service. In 1948 he spent three years completing a surgical residency at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis. In 1951 Dr. Law returned to his private practice in Roanoke and became Burrell Memorial Hospital’s chief of surgery. He also served three years as the hospital’s chief of staff.

After closing his practice, Dr. Law joined the staff of physicians at the V.A. Medical Center in Salem. He worked there for 15 years before retiring in 1994.

Activism and Personal Life

In addition to his medical service to the community, Dr. Law was a civil rights leader in Roanoke. As a member of the Biracial Citizens Committee, he sought to implement a peaceful approach to desegregation in Roanoke, attempting to avoid the violence experienced in other southern cities. In August of 1960, the committee organized a sit-in at Peoples Drugstore. This protest acted as a catalyst that led to the desegregation of lunch counters and drugstores throughout the Roanoke Valley.

Dr. Law served as president of the Magic City Medical Society, and was a member of First Baptist Church. He died on May 20, 1999.

See Also

Sources

Law, Dr. Maynard Herman. (1999, May 23). The Roanoke Times.

Local legendary physician and civil rights activist passes. (1999, May 27). The Roanoke Tribune.

Retired doctor, civil rights leader dies. (1999, May 22). The Roanoke Times.

Shareef, R. (1996). The Roanoke Valley’s African American Heritage: A Pictorial History. The Donning Company Publishers.