CHAPTER XXV.
THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND
TRAINING SCHOOL.
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School was organized during the month of July, 1895, through the earnest effort of Dr. N. F. Mossell. Its purpose is to give larger opportunities for the training of colored girls as nurses, this class of learners in this profession being to a large extent excluded from the other training schools in Philadelphia. Girls of no race will be debarred from the course of training offered in this hospital. This institution is open to all without regard to race or creed.
The building is located at 1512 Lombard street. The money necessary to equip and furnish the building has been raised through the efforts of the management and four lady auxiliaries. The special need of the work at the present time is support for free beds. The hospital has been in operation four months, and its success up to the present date (April, 1896) shows both the feasibility and necessity for its establishment. The class of nurses in training are progressing in efficiency. There have been admitted a number of cases that have been successfully treated.
Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School.
The wards are light and airy, and are equipped with the most recent appliances for hospital work; they are entirely aseptic, the furniture consisting of enamelled iron and glass; the walls and floors have been properly treated to preserve this condition, the operating room is a perfect gem. The out-patient department is thoroughly equipped for the various clinics. The drainage, plumbing and ventilation are of the best. One fact worthy of notice is the hearty co-operation in the work shown by both the best elements of colored and white citizens, through contributions and subscriptions, also by the patronage of all entertainments given for the benefit of the hospital. Desiring to receive patients from all parts of the country, the management feel that, as the work is not localized, the support should not be, and in many cases friends at a distance have shown their kindly interest by liberal donations. As the hospital stands, it offers a notable proof of self-reliance and self-sacrificing devotion.
Mr. Jacob C. White, the able principal of the Robert Vaux School, is President of the Board of Management; Mr. S. J. M. Brock, Vice-president; Mr. Henry M. Minton, Secretary; S. B. Henry, Esq., Treasurer; N. F. Mossell, M.D., Chief of Staff; Miss Minnie M. Clemens, Head Nurse and Matron; A. A. Mossell, Esq., Solicitor.
Medical Staff—Consulting Surgeons: John B. Deaver, M.D., Thos. S. K. Morton, M.D.; Consulting Physicians: James Tyson, M.D., Roland G. Curtin, M.D.; Consulting Gynecologists: B. F. Baer, M.D., Hannah T. Croasdale, M.D.; Attending Surgeons: J. P. Tunis, M.D., N. F. Mossell, M.D.; Attending Physicians: E. C. Howard, M.D., Wm. H. Warrick, M.D., James T. Potter, M.D.; Attending Gynecologists: Caroline V. Anderson, M.D., Theo. A. Erck, M.D.; Assistants: George R. Hilton, M.D., D. W. Ogden, M.D.; ophthalmologist, H. F. Hansell, M.D.; Pathologist, A. A. Stevens, M.D.; Dermatologist, J. Abbott Cantrell, M.D.; Dental Surgeon, Wm. A. Jackson, D.D.S.; Pharmacist, Henry M. Minton, Ph.G.
The first benefit for the hospital was given February 26, 1896, at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, with the "Black Patti" as the star. The ticket-selling on this occasion broke the record for concerts given at the Academy. Amount raised, over $3,000; amount cleared, $1,600. This institution is without doubt the greatest memorial yet established in honor of that great friend of humanity, Frederick Douglass.
NATHAN F. MOSSELL, A.M., M.D.
Dr. N. F. Mossell, of Philadelphia, was born in Hamilton, Canada, in July, 1856. He entered Lincoln University in 1874, graduating in 1879 with honor, delivering the philosophical oration and receiving the Bradley medal for excellence in physical sciences. In the fall of 1879 he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, being the first colored student to enter that department of the University. And after bearing the taunts and scoffs of his fellow-students during the first year, he won their confidence and respect and at graduation was photographed with his class. His grade was sufficient at graduation to call forth the following comment from Dr. James Tyson, Secretary of the Faculty, and the same appeared in the Medical News of May 20, 1882.
N. F. MOSSELL, A.M., M.D.
"Dr. Mossell had graduated with an average higher than three-fourths of his class"—the comment being called forth during a discussion as to the necessity for separate colleges for colored students.
He was the first colored member admitted to the Philadelphia County Medical Society, February, 1888. He has for a number of years secured support for from one to two students in the Medical Department of the University. The appointment of Mrs. Minnie Hogan, the first and only colored graduate of the University Hospital, was secured by Dr. Mossell. Since his graduation he has built up a lucrative practice.
He has systematized the beneficial departments of the various secret orders of which he is a member.
He is deservedly one of the most popular men among his race in the city. His watchword, enunciated in one of his addresses, while yet a stripling student in the college, was then and is yet, "He who spares his toil spares his honor."
J. C. WHITE, JR.
Mr. Jacob C. White, the president of the Board of Directors of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School, is better known to the colored people of Philadelphia as the "pioneer educator."
From the year of his graduation from the Institute for Colored Youth, in 1856, Jacob C. White, Jr., has been continuously engaged as a school teacher, his nearly forty years of service having been spent in two schools. For thirty years he has been principal of the Robert Vaux School, and in that position has won the highest esteem of all connected with public school work.
J. C. WHITE.
Mr. White comes of one of the oldest and best-known colored families in Pennsylvania. His maternal great grandfather, one of the Bustil family, which intermarried with Lenni Lenape Indians, was a baker in Washington's army. His grandparents were all Philadelphians, and his father was secretary of the very first organized society of the famous "Underground Railroad," which aided slaves to escape to Canada. Robert Purvis was president of the organization. As a lad young Jacob assisted in caring for the fugitives, who came here in a wretched condition, and he tells many an interesting story of those who sought escape from slavery, a score of whom would be hidden at one time in the garret of his father's house.
Mr. White has always been actively identified with movements for the betterment of the colored people. He is a member of the Teachers' Institute, Annuity and Aid Association, Educational Club and the Teachers' Beneficial Association.
DANIEL H. WILLIAMS, M.D.
Dr. Daniel H. Williams, one of the best physicians in this country, white or colored, of Chicago, Ill., now of Washington, D.C., was born January 18, 1858, at Hollidaysburg, Pa. He attended the Janesville, Wis., High School, and was graduated from Janesville Classical Academy in 1878. Commenced the study of medicine at Janesville in 1880, under Surgeon-General Henry Palmer; attended three courses of lectures at Chicago Medical College, from which he was graduated March 28, 1883, his education having been obtained through his own exertions, his parents being unable to render financial assistance. In May, 1883, he located permanently in the practice of medicine in Chicago.
DANIEL H. WILLIAMS, M. D.
Dr. Williams is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois State Medical Society; Chicago Medical Society; Ninth International Medical Congress. He was a surgeon to South Side Dispensary, Chicago, 1884-92; surgeon to Provident Hospital, 1890-93; physician to Protestant Orphan Asylum, 1884-93; member of Illinois State Board of Health, 1889; reappointed in 1891. He is also a member of the Hamilton Club, of Chicago. Was appointed surgeon in charge to the Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, D. C., February 15, 1894.
Provident Hospital, Chicago, was instituted in January, 1891, by a few gentlemen of that city, who saw the need of an opening for colored physicians, as well as for colored women. At that time there was not a hospital in the United States that admitted colored men as resident physicians or internes. There was no place, in fact, that a colored man could get a good practical experience so necessary for the proper equipment of the young men in the practice of medicine and surgery; as well to colored women, there were no institutions where they could be admitted into the higher scientific work of nursing. There may have been one or two exceptions in which persons of very light color, who could not possibly be detected, were admitted into one or two of the Eastern institutions for the higher education of women as nurses.
Each year, Provident Hospital has graduated a class of ladies who have scattered themselves throughout the United States; and in every instance they are succeeding and doing commendable work, demonstrating at once the necessity of opening a field of usefulness to colored women who are debarred from every avenue of employment on account of color.
Provident Hospital, since its inception, has been blessed in having as its supporters sincere and honest helpers, white and colored, in Chicago. It has done, already, a good work, and is on the road to prosperity. In March, 1896, ground was broken for the erection of a new building, the like of which will not be seen anywhere in the West. Fifty thousand dollars has been donated by a philanthropic gentleman, in Chicago, for the erection of the building, his only request being that his name be not mentioned. This building is to be erected in the southern part of the city, and with all the modern improvements. Another gentleman, Mr. H. H. Kohlsaat, one of the persistent and faithful friends of the colored people in this country, gave the ground on which the building is to be erected. Mr. George H. Webster, the partner of Mr. Armour, of Chicago, and a member of the Board of Trustees, is a sincere and sympathetic friend of the colored people in their efforts to upbuild and maintain Provident Hospital. The gentlemen composing the Board of Trustees, a mixed board of Chicago's prominent citizens, are untiring in their endeavors to promote the interests of the institution.
THE FREEDMEN'S HOSPITAL.
Within the past eighteen months, Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, D.C., has been entirely reorganized. In the fall of 1894 the reorganization began by instituting a training school for nurses. A competent superintendent was had, and reorganization, reform and improvement went hand in hand until the present time. Now, there is a training school of forty nurses, all colored, selected from hundreds of applicants and from every State in the Union. The work of the training school is commended by everyone who takes the trouble to study it. Marked change in every department of the institution was manifested by the advent of these intelligent women, who brought new life and a new future to the hospital. Instead of remaining a political institution, it was converted, at once, into a scientific institution for the education and upbuilding of the more progressive members who have selected this as their life-work. You cannot overestimate the good that will come from the education of the young men and women in this institution.
In connection with other features, a corps of internes has been added. These are young graduates of medical colleges who are giving a service of twelve months of practical work in the several departments of the hospital. At the expiration of this service, they receive certificates which commend them at once to the people in the communities in which they are to reside.
In keeping with other lines of progress, an ambulance, with all the modern improvements, has been added to the service within the last year. This ambulance is complete in all its appointments, with the quickest emergency service to any part of the city. This feature of hospital work is one that has been neglected by colored people in this country, and one which they are particularly adapted to succeed in.
It is a marvel to the observer of human affairs that this institution has existed, for over twenty years, receiving an annual appropriation of over fifty thousand dollars, without an ambulance in its service, in a city like Washington, where a great many of the people are poor and depend upon charity in cases of sickness and distress. This ambulance makes as many as sixty or seventy-five emergency calls per month, furnishing a rich field of surgical study to the internes and nurses in the institution.
I have given in this sketch but a brief outline of the noble work of Dr. Williams. I can testify to his ability as a physician, and I take great pleasure in so doing. He is one of the cultured and polished gentlemen who reflect credit on the race.
HOME FOR AGED AND INFIRM COLORED PERSONS.
The Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, in West Philadelphia, Pa., is one of the best institutions of the character in the United States. The society, under whose auspices the home was founded, was organized September 28, 1864, in a private dwelling on South Front street.
The first Board of Managers and principal promoters of this most noble charity was composed of Friends and colored persons, whose circumstances gave them the confidence of and influence in the community, and was elected in the month of November, 1864, whose names are as follows: Officers; Dellwyn Parrish, President; Stephen Smith, Vice-President; Marcellus Balderson, Secretary; Samuel R. Shipley, Treasurer; William J. Alston, William Still, William H. Bacon, Abram Fields, Joshua Brown, Maurice Hall, Israel H. Johnson, Joseph M. Truman, Jr., Henry Gorden, Clayton Miller, Jacob C. White, Sr., and John S. Hills. Female members: Sarah M. Douglas, Helen Johnson, Rachel T. Jackson, Anna M. Laws, Catharine M. Shipley, Priscilla H. Heniszey, Sarah Parrish, Mary Jeanes, Eliza Harris, Alice Hudson, Grace Mapes and Mary Shaw.
Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, Philadelphia, Pa.
The original constitution was adopted on the 25th day of the tenth month (October), 1864, the preamble of which most clearly reveals the noble impulses and sentiments which burned upon the altar of these noble hearts, and actuated this noble band of true disciples of the blessed Christ to such splendid deeds.
The preamble reads as follows: "For the relief of that worthy class of colored persons who have endeavored through life to maintain themselves, but who from various causes are finally dependent on the charity of others, an association is hereby organized under the name of 'The Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons.'"
The number of persons admitted to the home within the first thirteen months, or up to the twelfth month, 1865, was (21) twenty-one, and all women, representing the States of New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, West Indies and far-away Africa; their ages ranging from (70) seventy to (102) one hundred and two years, which clearly indicates how nobly they had struggled on in the race of life against all odds.
The receipts for the establishment and maintenance of the home during the first fiscal year were $6,033.80.
REV. STEPHEN SMITH.
The work of the home was conducted in the house at 340 South Front street until 1871, when, through the munificence of Rev. Stephen Smith and his wife, colored persons of considerable means, one acre of ground on the corner of Girard avenue and Belmont avenue was given the Board, together with a magnificent four-story brick building, valued at $40,000. The inmates of the home on Front street moved to West Philadelphia. This building was opened June 29, 1871, since which time it has stood there as an ornament to the city and an enduring and fitting monument to the memory of its noble donors, and with ever-widening influence, power and helpfulness, standing for and fulfilling all that is involved in the term "Home" for that worthy and deserving class of Aged and Infirm Colored Men and Women.
Mr. Edward T. Parker, of Philadelphia, who died October 3d, 1887, gave $85,000 to the institution for the purpose of erecting the annex to the old building. Additions have been made to the home in recent years at a cost of $85,000, thus making the entire plant cost upward of $150,000, with capacity for the maintenance of a family of near 200 persons, and giving us a home at once the most complete, extensive and far-reaching in its benefits of any institution of its kind in the city, and for the class whom it is designed to bless, possibly in the world. The total number cared for by the home has been: men, 116; women, 427; total, 543, while the present number in the home is 138; or the whole family, help and all, 160; the maintenance of which requires an expenditure monthly of from $1,500 to $1,600, or near $20,000 per annum. With the enlarged facilities come greatly increased demands and largely increased outlays.
The chief need now, therefore, is more means, that the Home may always be able to extend the hand of help to worthy applicants, and comfortably maintain this large and most interesting family of worthy aged and infirm colored persons, up to the full capacity of the building to accommodate.
This noble charity has been supported largely by members of the Society of Friends, they constituting the principal portion of the Board of Managers. Yet the colored people themselves have contributed to this institution between $175,000 and $200,000 since its establishment.
EDWARD T. PARKER.
The present Board of Management consists of sixteen men and fifteen women, with a co-operative committee of nineteen women, all of whom are most earnest and self-sacrificing in behalf of the Home and the family of old people.
Officers of the corporation are: Wm. Still, 244 South Twelfth street, President; Joseph M. Truman, 1500 Race st., Vice Pres.; Walter Penn Shipley, 404 Girard Building, Treas.; Thos. H. McCollin, 1030 Arch st., Secty.; C. T. Shaffer, M.D., 1821 Camac st., Chairman of Board of Managers.
Communications addressed to any one of the above-named gentlemen will receive prompt, courteous, and careful attention.