Meet Thelma Brown, PT and Theodore “Ted” Corbitt, PT, MPT

At Klein PT, we are striving to include more heroic black stories. These two individuals have contributed so much to our industry of Physical Therapy that we were inspired to research and write a brief history of their contributions. Our industry is thankfully now an inclusive one for all. We treat every human as a human we seek to heal. We’ve included links for further reading in the footnotes if you are interested in learning more about these amazing PT’s.

Thelma Brown, PT

Thelma Brown was born in Georgia and became a nurse in the 1930’s. She had always wanted to become a physical therapist, yet at the time, as with so many fields, the classes to become one were generally barred to black Americans. 

When that policy was lifted, she was able to successfully become the fifth black American to become a PT in the 1940’s. Brown graduated from Northwestern University with her physical therapy certificate and went on to lead several renowned physical therapy departments including the Provident Hospital and La Rabida Children’s Hospital and Research Center. 

Ted Corbitt, PT, MPT

An Olympian, Ted Corbitt became the United States’ first African American to represent the country as a marathon runner in 1952. He then graduated from New York University, earning an MA in physical therapy and teaching at Columbia University for 20 years. (Pictured in the header image of this article.)

Not only that, he was a US Army Veteran and worked as both professor and clinician for 44 years at the International Center for the Disabled in NYC. He’s set records upon records including “walking 303 miles in a single six day race.” Corbitt founded the course certification used today for distance runners and was the first physical therapist ever to teach “connective tissue massage, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, progressive resistance exercise and applied kinesiology.” 

Further Reading

There are so many black Americans that contributed to our field in this country and we encourage you to read more about their incredible stories. Below are a few links to get you started. Thank you for reading!

Resource Links:

American Physical Therapy Association, “Vision, Courage, Compassion: Black Physical Therapists Who Transformed the Profession,” Feb. 19, 2019. 

Athletico Physical Therapy, Health Resources, “Celebrating Black History in Physical Therapy,” Feb. 19, 2020. 

Theodore “Ted” Corbitt, An American Pioneer, “For Distance Running He Was Like Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, and Bill Russell.”

Arch Med Health Sci 2014;2:257-60, “The Rise of Physical Therapy: A History in Footsteps,” 2014.