Miss Doc
Miss Doc | Film Stills | 2024
MISS DOC (Trailer) | 2024
Director Yelaine Rodriguez | Director of Photography - Daniel D’Meza | Choreographer Jeremy Caro
Executive Producers National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) & Yelaine Rodriguez | Producer Laura “Roca” Morales
Performers | Annette Dalmasí as Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser | Jeremy Caro as Babalú-Ayé | Carla Del Mar Barinas as Portal 1 | Cindy Sosa as Portal 2 | Charina Jerez as as Portal 3 | Delienny Nicole Guzmán as Portal 4
Art Direction & Costume Designs by Yelaine Rodriguez
Original Poem by Yaissa Jiménez | Music Director Mitiko Mawôn (JJBC)
Assistant Camera Eduardo Javier | Assistant Producer Jensen Marquez | Wardrobe Assistant Jeremy Caro | Locations Allen Campos
Editing & Coloring Daniel D’Meza
Miss Doc, 2024 is a video performance art piece that delves into migration patterns, race relations, and women's rights during the Reconstruction Era. It tells the story of Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser, born in 1850, who was the fourth Black woman to become a licensed physician in the United States and the first woman doctor and pediatric specialist in the Dominican Republic. After graduating from Syracuse University College of Medicine in 1876, Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser opened her own medical practice in Washington, D.C. It was there that she met her future husband, Dr. Charles Fraser, through the Afro-American Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who was a close family friend. The couple married in 1882 and relocated to Dr. Fraser's plantation in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. A year later, Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Gregoria, after Gregorio Luperón, a key figure in Dominican history and her daughter's godfather.
Dr. Fraser's move to the Dominican Republic was linked to President Grant's annexation project, which aimed to include the Dominican Republic in the United States. The video performance art piece focuses on Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser's time in Puerto Plata, highlighting her significant impact on the city's medical landscape despite the social, racial, and gender challenges of that era. Miss Doc, 2024 shares the same name as Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser's unpublished biography, written by her daughter, Mrs. Gregoria Fraser Goins. The video traces Dr. Fraser's footsteps in Puerto Plata, exploring the ruins of her pharmacy, her former home, and historical spots she may have frequented, such as Gregorio Luperón's home and El Parque Central Independencia in the center of the old city. It also incorporates Afro-syncretic practices, connecting Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser with Babalú-Ayé, the orisha of sickness and health, thus linking this video work with Rodriguez's previous film Babalú-Ayé y La Negra del Hospital, 2022.
Funders
Miss Doc, 2024 is made possible by the generous support of The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fund for the Arts: Artist & Organization Grants. Supporting US and Puerto Rico-based Latino artists and arts organizations in developing, creating, presenting, and sustaining artistic excellence. For over 15 years, the (NALAC) Fund for the Arts (NFA) has been the premier national grant program dedicated exclusively to supporting Latinx artists and arts organizations. Since its inception, (NALAC) has distributed 884 grants to Latinx communities, representing a monumental investment exceeding $7 million throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Yelaine Rodriguez was one of the grantees of the 2023 NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA).