Dr. Jacob Anthony Gay (1904-1975) was born in Woodville, MS to William and Lucille (Jackson) Gay. We could not find information on his parents. According to the 1910 Census, Jacob was living with his aunt Harriet Murray, uncle Lee Murray, and grandmother Leah Jackson in Natchez, MS. In 1928, Jacob graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. On November 9, 1929, he married Laura Winifred Jetton in Jeffersonville, IN. Dr. Gay also completed postgraduate work in oral surgery at Ohio State University and served two years as Chief of Oral Surgery for the US Army Dental Corps. He and Winifred then moved to Frankfort, KY where he opened a dental practice. By 1946, the couple was living in Louisville at 1912 W. Chestnut Street and they later moved to 2416 W. Chestnut Street in the Russell Neighborhood.
Dr. Gay was very involved in Louisville not only in the medical field but civically. He was a member of the Louisville Dental Society, Program Director of the John Andrew Dental Congress in Tuskegee, AL, consultant to Central State Hospital, and president of the Red Cross Hospital where he was chief of oral surgery. He had served as president and treasurer of the Louisville chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, financial secretary of the Chestnut Street YMCA, and a trustee of Plymouth Congregational Church. He was also a member of the Louisville Urban League and the Community Chest. Dr. Gay’s dental office was located at 2619 W. Broadway. On May 21, 1975, Dr. Gay died at the age of 71. He was buried in Section 21, Range 1, Lot 2 of Eastern Cemetery. He shares a headstone with Winifred; however, when she died in 1995, she was cremated. The photo of Dr. Gay is from “Sphinx” Summer August 1956, Volume 42, Number 3.
