Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office | |
![]() Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office and historical marker | |
Location | 2226 Hampton St.. Columbia, South Carolina |
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Coordinates | 34°00′38″N81°01′06″W / 34.0106°N 81.0182°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1963 |
Architectural style | Modern |
NRHP reference No. | 100003939 |
Added to NRHP | May 20, 2019 |
The Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office, located in Columbia, South Carolina, served African-American patients during de jure and de facto racial segregation in the United States. Built in 1963, it was added to United States National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 2019. [1]
The office, built by Dr. Cyril O. Spann in 1963, is a one-story modern brick building near the former Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, also known as "Good Sam" Hospital and Waverly Hospital, a historic hospital for African-American patients built in 1952, where Spann served as chief of staff [2] from 1966 until the hospital's closure in 1973. He worked with Black nurses who trained at Columbia Hospital. [3] After the closure of 'Good Sam', and merger of Columbia Hospital into the new Richland Memorial Hospital (now Prisma Health Richland Hospital), Dr. Spann continued to work from his office while serving as attending surgeon there and at Providence Hospital. [4] The Spann Medical Office is significant for its association with segregated medical facilities in Columbia, and with Dr. Spann believed to have been the only Black surgeon in South Carolina in the 1960s and early 70s. [5] Dr. Spann was born in Chester, South Carolina, attended Benedict College and Meharry Medical College and traveled the state to serve Black patients until his death in 1979. [6]
The office reflects a shift from earlier African American doctors' offices in Columbia, which were often located in residences or re-purposed buildings. According to his son, Cyril O. Spann, Jr., MD, a Gynecologic Oncologist, Dr. Spann was very involved in the design of the building, making sure the modernity of the office was emphasized through its design. [7] The ribbon windows, stacked course brick veneer, and clean lines of the building adhere closely to the tenets of Modernism/Modern architecture. [8]
Prior to the construction of this office in 1963, Dr. Spann was heavily involved in the local struggle for civil rights. The research of David Barton Smith describes Black physicians of the era who used their local clout and influence to fight for justice during this era as 'Street Fighters' involved in direct actions, or 'Brahmins' who exerted pressure for change behind the scenes. [9] Dr. Spann was a street fighter. He became a life member and Columbia Chapter President of the South Carolina State Conference of NAACP [10] and joined adult leaders attorney Lincoln C. Jenkins, Jr.; Matthew J. Perry Jr., Chief Counsel of the South Carolina State Conference of NAACP, and later Federal District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina; and Isaiah DeQuincey Newman, SC State Conference of NAACP Field Director in supporting a major student-led march on the South Carolina State House grounds on March 2, 1961. [11] More than 187 of the student protesters were detained by police, and Spann was instrumental in getting the funds to pay the bail of those arrested. The resulting lawsuit, Edwards v. South Carolina, reached the Supreme Court of the United States, led at that time by Chief Justice Earl Warren and his 'Warren Court'. [12]
On February 25, 1963, the court ruled that the 14th amendment forbids states "to make criminal the peaceful expression of unpopular views," providing legal protection for similar protests nationwide. In Columbia, the marchers and their supporters, including Dr. Spann, representing the bondsmen who bailed the demonstrators out of jail, told those present that 'his group was satisfied to have acted as it did and would do the same thing again under similar circumstances.' [13] He continued to help young protestors in his normal line of work, using his surgical skills to save the life of Benedict College student Lennie W. Glover after he was stabbed in a Columbia Woolworth's by a white assailant while participating in a sit-in. [14] The event was picked up in national news [15] and featured in Jet Magazine.
During this period of student marches and activism, court rulings, and efforts by the white establishment to control the pace of racial change, Dr. Spann personally participated in other efforts to desegregate Columbia. Lester Bates [16] was elected Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina in 1958 and soon encountered students setting the pace for racial change, with sit-ins and protests starting in 1960. Bates responded by working with committees of Black and white community leaders—with whom he first met separately—to discuss how to best avoid the violent reactions to desegregation that were taking place in other cities across the South. Desegregation talks were held privately, while Allen University and Benedict College students protested publicly. In September 1962, after Columbia's lunch counters were desegregated, students and others turned their attention to segregation in the area's movie theatres. After students picketed and protested these businesses, the secret committee of Blacks and whites moved to quietly end segregationist practices in theaters. On June 5, 1963, I. DeQuincey Newman targeted eight South Carolina cities, including Columbia, for massive protests, and sent each mayor a list of demands. [17]
Rev. James M. Hinton, a member of the committee, arranged for Dr. Spann to systematically integrate the Palmetto Theater on Main Street between December 20 and January 6, 1963, as a 'test case'. [18] Bates used this method of controlling the process of integration, with one Columbia space after another integrating in an orchestrated, gradual way. Dr. Spann joined John Henry McCray and other black leaders in approaching Mayor Lester Bates and Columbia City Council and 'won from them a promise of cooperation' to end segregation in downtown businesses. Dr. Spann and John H McCray were part of an ad hoc committee, which also consisted of J.A. Bacoats, president of Benedict College; Reverend Maxie S. Gordon, Sr.; James M. Hinton, C.D. Ingram, Willis C. Johnson, I. P. Stanback, Reverend Roscoe C. Wilson, Sr. (Grandfather of professional basketball player A'ja Wilson), and Howard Emery Wright, president of Allen University. [19] Researcher Brad Sauls noted: "Columbia's wealth of exceptional leaders prevented the city from experiencing the tragedies and violence that scarred other cities in the Deep South". [20]
When Dr. Spann bought the property for his new office in 1962, the attorneys who handled his property transactions were Lincoln C. Jenkins, Jr., (who, along with Matthew J. Perry Jr., Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley, James M. Nabrit III and Donald James Sampson, argued the Edwards v. South Carolina case before the Supreme Court of the United States), and Harold R. Boulware, [21] who, along with Thurgood Marshall and Robert L. Carter, filed Elmore v. Rice, the class action suit that opened up the Democratic Primaries to Black voters in 1947 [22]
The medical office at 2226 Hampton, now referred to as the Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office, was operated exclusively by African American physicians from 1963 until 1996, recorded in Columbia City Directories. [23] In addition to Dr. Albert L. Reid, [24] who shared the space with Dr. Spann, a number of prominent African American doctors worked in the office during the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Everett L. Dargan, who had his offices here in 1980 and 1981, published significant Ascending cholangitis research, [25] and argued for changes at the federal level to support medical services for the poor and indigent, ultimately receiving Congressional recognition of his legacy from Jim Clyburn. [26]
Other prestigious Black doctors who worked from 2226 Hampton included Drs. Ronald Johnson and Burnett W. Gallman Jr., [27] from 1982 to 1987, the latter of whom was recognized in the 2018 South Carolina African American History Calendar, and whose grandfather graduated from Leonard Medical School in 1906; Dr. Gerald A. Wilson in 1981, awarded the Order of the Palmetto, one of South Carolina's most prestigious honors, [28] and Physician of the Year in 2017; Dr. Vera McBryde [29] of Latta, SC from 1990 to 1992, believed to be the first Black woman to become a Board certified physician in the state of SC [30] and Dr. Stuart A. Hamilton from 1994 to 1996, founder of the Eau Claire Cooperative Community Health Clinic System, which serves low income patients in four South Carolina counties. [31] Hamilton is also an Order of the Palmetto recipient. [32]
In addition to its National Register of Historic Places status, the Spann Medical Office falls within the boundaries of Waverly Protection Area, a Preservation District within the City of Columbia Urban Design and Historic Preservation District system. [33] This Preservation District is an expansion of Waverly Historic District.
The Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office historical marker from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History was unveiled on November 19, 2019, with presentations made by former Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court Jean H. Toal, State Representative Kambrell Garvin, and Chester County Councilwoman Mary A. Guy.
A dedication ceremony for a tree of peace and resistance also held that day recognized actions of mutual support between members of Emanual African Methodist Episcopal Church who experienced the Charleston Church Shooting and members of the Tree of Life _ Or L'Simcha Congregation after the Pittsburgh synogogue shooting; historic ties between the Spann Medical Office, the Visanska Starks House and Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital, and expressed a commitment to public health and non-violence. [34] The hospital will be dedicated to the nine persons slain in the Charleston church shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, to include Pastor and South Carolina Senator Clementa C. Pinckney and two other Allen University alumni. [35]
Columbia is the capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populous city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. It is the center of the Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 858,302 in 2023, and is the 70th-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States. The name Columbia is a poetic term used for the United States, derived from the name of Christopher Columbus, who explored for the Spanish Crown. Columbia is often abbreviated as Cola, leading to its nickname as "Soda City".
Charleston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. Charleston had a population of 150,227 at the 2020 census. The population of the Charleston metropolitan area, comprising Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, was estimated to be 849,417 in 2023. It ranks as the third-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the state, and the 71st-most populous in the United States.
Richland County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 416,147, making it the second-most populous county in South Carolina, behind only Greenville County. The county seat and largest community is Columbia, the state capital. The county was established on March 12, 1785. Richland County is part of the Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2020, the center of population of South Carolina was located in Richland County, in the city of Columbia. The county is also the location of the geographic center of South Carolina, southeast of Columbia.
Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 408,235, making it the third-most populous county in South Carolina. Its county seat is Charleston. It is also the largest county in the state by total area, although Horry County has a larger land area. The county was created in 1800 by an act of the South Carolina State Legislature.
Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Allen University Historic District.
The South Carolina State House is the building housing the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina, which includes the South Carolina General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Located in the capital city of Columbia near the corner of Gervais and Assembly Streets, the building also housed the Supreme Court until 1971.
Kay Patterson is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 19th District from 1985 to his retirement in 2008. He was previously a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1975 through 1985.
Clementa Carlos Pinckney was an American politician and pastor who served as a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 45th District from 2000 until his murder in 2015. He was previously a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1997 through 2000.
Matthew James Perry Jr. was an attorney and in 1979 appointed as the first African-American United States district judge in South Carolina, serving on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. In 1976 he had been the first African-American attorney from the Deep South to be appointed to the federal judiciary, which he served on the United States Court of Military Appeals. Perry established his career with civil rights litigation, defending Gloria Blackwell in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in her 1962 suit against her arrest for sitting in the whites-only area of the regional hospital while waiting for emergency treatment for her daughter. Other landmark cases included achieving the integration of Clemson University and reapportionment of the state legislature.
John L. Scott Jr. was an American politician who served as a member of the South Carolina Legislature from 1991 until his death. Scott was a small business owner in Columbia, South Carolina.
The following is a timeline of the history of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, also known as “Good Sam” Hospital and Waverly Hospital, is a historic hospital for African-American patients located in Columbia, South Carolina. It was built in 1952, and is a two-story, brick building in the Moderne style. The hospital housed a pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray room, staff dining room, two operating rooms, and 50 beds to service the local community. The hospital closed in August 1973.
Waverly Historic District is a national historic district located at Columbia, South Carolina. The district encompasses 132 contributing buildings in the first suburban development at Columbia. They were built between about 1898 and 1925, and the district includes examples of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, shotgun, American Foursquare, and Craftsman/Bungalow style architecture. The community has evolved from a predominantly white neighborhood into a community of African-American artisans, professionals and social reformers.
Prior to the civil rights movement in South Carolina, African Americans in the state had very few political rights. South Carolina briefly had a majority-black government during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, but with the 1876 inauguration of Governor Wade Hampton III, a Democrat who supported the disenfranchisement of blacks, African Americans in South Carolina struggled to exercise their rights. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation kept African Americans from voting, and it was virtually impossible for someone to challenge the Democratic Party, which ran unopposed in most state elections for decades. By 1940, the voter registration provisions written into the 1895 constitution effectively limited African-American voters to 3,000—only 0.8 percent of those of voting age in the state.
The Charleston Chronicle was a weekly newspaper serving the African-American and Black communities in Charleston, South Carolina. The paper was founded in 1971 by James J. French and it ceased publication shortly after his death in 2021.
John Henry McCray (1910–1987) was a journalist, newspaper publisher, politician, civil rights activist, and college academic administrator in the United States. An African American, he worked at some of the country's most prominent Black newspapers including the Lighthouse and Informer newspaper of South Carolina ; the Charleston Messenger; the Pittsburgh Courier as the Carolina editor ; the Baltimore Afro-American ; The Chicago Defender ; and the Atlanta Daily World. McCray was a co-founder of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) of South Carolina.
Lucille Simmons Whipper was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1986 to 1996. Whipper is most well known for accomplishments in both education and politics. In the educational field, Whipper worked at two high schools before landing a job at the College of Charleston. Here, Whipper implemented an affirmative action program and played a major role in integrating the Avery Institute, a center dedicated to African American history, with the college. In politics, Whipper was the first black woman to represent a Charleston County seat in the legislature. She was also the first woman of color ever to be elected to the South Carolina General Assembly.
Elias Marks founded the South Carolina Female Collegiate Institute at Barhamville, South Carolina. The girls' school flourished for over 30 years in the antebellum period, pioneering in higher education for young women. Marks was born in Charleston and earned an M.D. at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He soon switched from medicine to a career in female education. Marks published writings on medical and educational themes as well as a book of poems. He "was esteemed by all as a scholar and a gentleman."
The Visanska-Starks House and Carriage House, built in 1900, is an example of the social history of Columbia, South Carolina's first suburb: Waverly Historic District. The history of the house includes Antebellum white, Jewish, and African-American inhabitants over several decades.
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