Navajo Oral History project – Dr. Beulah Allen

Navajo Medical Doctor and the First Miss Navajo Nation

Photo by Tom Grier/Navajo Oral History Project.

Beulah Allen, one of the first Navajo medical doctors, and the person who helped create the Emergency Medical Service providing ambulance and quick response medical care across the Navajo Nation.

She was the first Miss Navajo was Dr. Beulah Melvin Allen, in 1952. She was crowned at the Navajo Nation Fair, the largest fair held on the Navajo Nation, which had been established three years earlier.

Hometown: Kinlichee, Arizona
Education:
Rehoboth High School, 1989
B.S. in Accounting/Finance – University of Arizona

Clans:
She is Born to(Nishlí): Bitter Water People (Tódích’íi’nii)
Born for (Báshíshchíín): Red Running Into The Water People (Táchii’nii)
Maternal Grandparents are (Dashichei): Start Of The Red Streaked People (Deeshchii’nii)
Paternal Grandparents are (Dashinálí): One-Walk-Around People (Honágháahnii)

Photo courtesy of Miss Navajo Council

This film contains stories Beulah Allen of Wheatfields, Arizona, told the students during several hours of interviews about her life.

This documentary film was researched, photographed, edited and produced by students of Winona State University (Winona, Minnesota) and Diné College (Tsaile, Arizona, Navajo Nation) during summer 2009.

It contains stories Harry Walters of Cove, Arizona, told the students during several hours of interviews about his life.

This documentary film is archived at the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Nation Library, Winona State University Library, and Diné College Library, and will be archived at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The film is part of the Navajo Oral History project, a multi-year collaboration between the Winona State UniversityMass Communication Department and Diné College– The official Tribal College of the Navajo Nation

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