Dr. Mary Susan Moore was born 1865 in Chatham County, North Carolina. She earned her Doctorate of Medicine in 1898 from Meharry Medical Department of Central Tennessee College (now Meharry Medical College). Dr. Moore was the first Black female physician to practice medicine in Texas. In 1903, she and her husband, Dr. James D. Moore, opened a forty-bed hospital, Hubbard Sanitarium, in Galveston to serve the health needs of Black people. For four years Dr. Moore and her husband fought opposition from residents and local government. In 1907, the city of Galveston repealed the ordinance prohibiting the operation of Hubbard Sanitarium. Dr. Moore and her husband maintained the hospital until about 1925. Dr. Mary Susan Moore died August 22, 1965.

In 1991, a group of African-American female physicians formed the Association of Black Women Physicians-Houston. These ladies saw the need for an organization that would provide health education, healthcare advocacy, and a sisterhood among black female physicians. This multidisciplinary group of women physicians became a source of support and networking opportunities for its member physicians, residents and medical students who reside in the Greater Houston and Galveston area.

Today, the group continues its mission to be an example of medical excellence as well as to encourage and empower future African-American female physicians.