WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – As we continue our Black History Month coverage, we will look at the legacy of Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark.
Born in 1894 in rural Texas, Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark wanted to achieve her goals by bettering the cultural environment. She attended Paul Quinn College in Waco, where she received her doctorate she later attended podiatry school in Chicago to become a podiatrist.
Dr. Roark and her husband moved to Wichita Falls where she opened up her practice in 1923, being the only black woman to have a business downtown from the 1920′s to the 1940′s.
During this time Dr. Roark and her husband lived on the east side of Wichita Falls where they were very involved in the community. After her practice, she used this time to open up the Roark Plaza Hotel and Coffee Shop which was used as a tax poll location for African Americans.
They wanted to do a service to the community by opening up a theater and with that came the African American theater, Isis. This theater was known to display african american artists’ performances, movies, and most importantly a place for the Negro Service Men’s Center due to Shepherd Air Force Base having no place for the congregation of black soldiers at the time.
Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark left a legacy that marked her as the “Matriarch of the Eastside”.
Dr. Roark left this earth in 1984. if you want to know more you can visit her landmark on the east side at 500 Flood Street in Wichita Falls.
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