One of the notable examples of what a youth can do in the face of adverse conditions, is Dr. Curtis Thomas Hayden, of Charleston, President of the West Virginia State Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association.
Dr. Hayden is a native of the Old Dominion, having bee born in Floyd County, Va., on December 9, 1884. His parents are Wise and Jennie Hayden. His mother is a daughter of Letitia Jones.
Young Hayden first went to school at Floyd. For his literary work he went to the Normal and Collegiate Institute at Petersburg, Va. He was in the Normal Department one year and in the Collegiate two years. When able to secure a teachers license, he began teaching, and taught in the public schools of Floyd two terms. This, however, was merely as a means to an end, for already he had made up his mind to study medicine. Accordingly, he matriculated at Howard University, Washington, D. C., and won his M.D. degree in 1912. The fact that he had to make his own way did not discourage him. His vacations were spent in hotel and rail road work, and the first year after he was out of medical college he went South in the dining car service in order that he might start the practice without embarrassment.
He located at Charleston in 1914, where he has since resided, and where he has built up a general practice of which many an older physician would be proud. His standing among his fellow physicians of the State may be inferred from the fact that at the last meeting of the State Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association, he was elected president of that organization. He is also identified with the National Medical Society.
In politics Dr. Hayden is a Republican and among the secret orders is identified with the Masons. He is local medical examiner for the Odd Fellows, the American Woodmen and the Supreme Life Insurance Company.
Dr. Hayden has observed conditions in the city and in the country and he is of the opinion that the industrial and commercial development of the race must be taken into consideration as the basis of permanent progress. In this he is in line with many of the most progressive thinkers of the day.
Dr. Hayden's practice involves considerable surgery and he is recognized as a skillful anaesthetician.