Wheatley-Provident Hospital

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Wheatley-Provident Hospital
St. Joseph's Parochial School; Perry Sanitarium
Wheatley-Provident Hospital southeast side.jpg
Southeast side and front door (2020)
Wheatley-Provident Hospital
Location in Kansas City
Location1826 Forest Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri
Coordinates 39°05′27″N94°34′10″W / 39.09083°N 94.56945°W / 39.09083; -94.56945
Elevation817 feet (249 m) [1]
Founded1902
FounderDr. John Edward Perry
Built1903;123 years ago (1903)
Built forSt. Joseph's Parochial School
Original useSt. Joseph's Parochial School
RebuiltJune 1, 1918;107 years ago (1918-06-01)
Restored by1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC
Current useHistorical restoration
Architect Hoit, Price & Barnes (1925 addition)
Architectural style Gothic Revival (elements)
Owner1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC
Website https://wheatleyprovident.com/ at the Wayback Machine (archived December 4, 2024)
DesignatedOctober 8, 2020
Reference no.100005665 [2] [3]
The northeast side had active construction in August 2020. Wheatley-Provident Hospital northeast August 2020.jpg
The northeast side had active construction in August 2020.
Etching above the east-facing front door (2020) Wheatley-Provident Hospital etching east roof.jpg
Etching above the east-facing front door (2020)
The north face's rooftop "ASYLUM" sign is a remnant (August 2020) from having been a Halloween haunted attraction in the 1980s and 1990s. Wheatley-Provident Hospital north face asylum sign.jpg
The north face's rooftop "ASYLUM" sign is a remnant (August 2020) from having been a Halloween haunted attraction in the 1980s and 1990s.
"Hospital Campaign On" is the front page headline of the Kansas City Sun's coverage on December 8, 1917, of the fundraiser for founding Wheatley-Provident Hospital. This page was archived at the Library of Congress for historical significance in the Chronicling America digital collection. Hospital Campaign On.jpg
"Hospital Campaign On" is the front page headline of the Kansas City Sun's coverage on December 8, 1917, of the fundraiser for founding Wheatley-Provident Hospital. This page was archived at the Library of Congress for historical significance in the Chronicling America digital collection.

Wheatley-Provident Hospital is a historic former hospital located at 1826 Forest Avenue, three blocks from the 18th and Vine Historic District of Kansas City, Missouri. It is the only surviving hospital building in Kansas City that was owned and operated by the African American community during the era of racial segregation. It was founded by Dr. John Edward Perry, to provide critical medical care and professional training for Black nurses and physicians who the city restrictively segregated in all other institutions.

Contents

The facility occupies a two-story limestone structure originally built in 1903 as St. Joseph's Parochial School. The hospital moved into the building in 1918 after outgrowing its previous location. In 1925, a significant pediatric wing was added to the north, designed by the prominent Kansas City architectural firm Hoit, Price & Barnes, known for the Kansas City Power and Light Building.

After over half a century of service, the hospital closed in 1972. The building was listed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places in 2007 [6] and the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 2020, [2] [3] and is undergoing historic restoration.

History

The hospital's predecessor was a small hospital and training school for nurses founded in 1902 by Dr. John Edward Perry. [7] In 1910, it was located at 1214 Vine, named Perry Sanitarium and Nurse Training Association. [8]

On June 1, 1918, after an extensive public fundraiser campaign [9] yielding US$25,000(equivalent to about $523,000 in 2024), the facility was relocated to a pre-existing building at 1826 Forest Avenue. Having been built in 1903 as St. Joseph's Parochial School, that building was renamed Wheatley-Provident Hospital and repurposed as Kansas City's first permanent hospital for Black people. It was led by Dr. Perry and his wife Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry, who was the daughter of Rosetta Douglass and granddaughter of Frederick Douglass. [6]

A children's wing was added in 1925. By 1971, 50,000 patients had been served, and the hospital was closed 1972. [8] Following its closure, the hospital remained vacant for a period. It was later repurposed temporarily as a haunted attraction, operating under the names The Asylum in the 1980s and Dr. Deadly's Haunted Hospital in the 1990s. [10] [11]

It entered the Kansas City Register of Historic Places in 2007 [6] and the National Register of Historic Places in October 2020. [3] [2] [12] The property became owned by an absentee landlord, and was declared a hazardous building and threatened with demolition by 2017. The historic building was saved from destruction and rehabilitation began in 2021. [13] The owner is 1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC, which is rehabilitating the property into office space, preferably for tenants in the medical field for consistency with its heritage, as "a key to connecting the Crossroads and 18th and Vine". [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kansas City topographic map, elevation, relief". topographic-map.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
  3. 1 2 3 "Wheatley-Provident Hospital". mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  4. ↑ The Kansas City Sun (December 8, 1917). "Hospital Campaign On". The Kansas City Sun . Vol. 10, no. 15. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2026– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ The Kansas City Sun (December 8, 1917). "Hospital Campaign On". The Kansas City Sun . Vol. 10, no. 15. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2026– via Library of Congress: Chronicling America.
  6. 1 2 3 "KCMO Historic Register". City of Kansas City, MO. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Our History". 1826 Forest, Kansas City, Missouri. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "First Black Hospital In Kansas City Is Now On Life Support". KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. Local news, entertainment and podcasts. August 7, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  9. ↑ "The New Wheatley Provident Hospital". Kansas City Sun. Kansas City, Missouri. December 15, 1917. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Kevin (April 17, 2020). "Wheatley-Provident Hospital". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Dan (October 4, 2019). "Kansas City has the best haunted house in the U.S.? This KC Q shows why that's dead on". Kansas City Public Library. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  12. ↑ Gerber, Cameron (July 17, 2020). "First Black-owned hospital in Kansas City nominated for National Register of Historic Places". The Missouri Times. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Multiple steps bring KC's first Black-owned hospital closer to preservation, redevelopment". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  14. ↑ Collison, Kevin (July 16, 2018). "Kansas City's First Black Hospital Is Saved Thanks To Redevelopment Deal". KCUR-FM . Retrieved February 3, 2026.
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