JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Eleven years ago, on November 26, 2014, Mississippi lost a medical pioneer who was also a champion for human and civil rights.
Dr. Aaron Shirley was the first African-American pediatric resident at the University of Mississippi Medical Center back in the 1960s. At one point, he was the state’s only Black pediatrician.
He helped establish the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, which became a model for federally funded community health centers. He also led the effort to transform the mostly vacant Jackson Mall into the Jackson Medical Mall in the 1990s…