Dr. Roland H. Bruner
An unassuming and selfless family man who committed himself to serving others
Dr. Roland H. Bruner served as a physician to Arlington’s African-American community for 45 years in an era where segregation and bigotry barred hospital access to minorities
On March 7, 1902: Roland H. Bruner is born in Burkittsville, Maryland. He will serve as a physician to Arlington’s African-American community for 45 years in an era where segregation and bigotry barred hospital access to minorities. He is remembered not only for his commitment to medicine and generosity to the community and his patients, but also for overcoming the limitations sets forth by racism.
In 1928, Bruner earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Howard University. Options for African-American medical students were limited with only two US medical colleges training the majority of black doctors. He graduated from Howard University College of Medicine in 1932 and interned at Freedmen’s Hospital in DC. In 1935, he became a part time member of the clinical faculty on Howard’s College of Medicine and he specialized in obstetrics and gynecology and became a noted lecturer in the field.
Married on July 20, 1934 to Georgia Collins, they purchased property in the Green Valley (previously known as Nauck) neighborhood and he opened a private practice in his newly built brick home at 2018 South Glebe Road in Green Valley. He filled a desperate local need for African-American physicians since few practiced in the county. The 1930 census listed only two African American doctors practicing in Arlington. He often made house calls to deliver babies at the homes of people turned away by the segregated medical establishment. He offered general medical services but specialized in obstetrics. He was instrumental in establishing a Planned Parenthood clinic for Arlington’s Department of Human Resources.
In 1938, he was the only African-American doctor employed by Arlington County’s Health Department it the prenatal clinics. Since African-Americans were not allowed to use the Clarendon Health Center, Dr. Bruner held prenatal clinics in “special clinic rooms” located at the former Arlington Courthouse.
He was an unassuming and selfless family man who committed himself to serving others regardless of financial gain. During the Depression and World War II, he bartered his services for goods that his patients could afford or declined payment from those who could not afford it. Dr. Bruner’s legacy is continued by his daughter, Dr. Denise Bruner also a graduate of Howard University’s College of Medicine who also has a medical practice in Arlington.
In 2001, the Arlington Housing Corporation purchased Dr. Bruner’s home and its land from the family. The original house remains and is now part of the Bruner Place development that includes seven contemporary townhomes.
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