Byrd Eugene D DDS Jr

Dr. Byrd "was one of the most focused individuals that I ever knew -- he broke barriers, persisted," said Dr. Sidney O. Burnett Jr., a longtime friend and dentist with an office at 1318 N. Caroline St. in East Baltimore. "Back in the 1950s, Byrd and I were a committee of two working to allow African-American dentists into the city, state and American dental associations," said Dr. Burnett. "We as blacks couldn't even get into the University of Maryland Dental School." Later, he and Dr. Burnett were accepted as members in all three organizations. In 1922, Dr. Byrd, a native of Thomasville, Ala., moved with his family to J Street in Sparrows Point. They later moved to East Baltimore. Dr. Byrd graduated from Douglass High School, Morgan State College and Howard University, where he earned a doctor of dental surgery degree. He completed postgraduate work at Guggenheim Dental Clinic in New York.