G.V. Black, regarded as the father of modern dentistry, was born in 1836 on a farm near Winchester, Illinois. He studied medicine and dentistry and in 1857 began practicing dentistry in Winchester. After serving in the Civil War, he resumed dental practice in Jacksonville, where his home and last office stood on this site. There he conducted extensive research, invented dental instruments, and wrote hundreds of papers and books. Many of his ideas on the care and restoration of teeth became accepted methods. Dr. Black taught operative dentistry and pathology at several dental schools, then moved to Chicago in 1897 to become dean of the Northwestern University Dental School, serving until his death in 1915.