Leonard Hall (Shaw University)

Last updated
Leonard Hall
Leonard Hall - Shaw University - DSC05811.JPG
Leonard Hall in 2011
Leonard Hall (Shaw University)
Former namesLeonard Medical Center
General information
Architectural style Romanesque Revival
Location Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina

Leonard Hall is a historic educational building located on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Built in 1881 and originally named Leonard Medical Center, it became known as Leonard Medical School, and then Leonard Hall. It was established when medical schools were professionalizing and was the first medical school in the United States to offer a four-year curriculum. [1] [2] It was also the first four-year medical school that African Americans could attend. [3]

Contents

The building was named after Judson Wade Leonard, the brother-in-law of Shaw's founder Henry Martin Tupper. Classes began in 1882 and the annual tuition was $60, a substantial sum at the time. [2] [4] It is a contributing part of the East Raleigh-South Park Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. In 1994 it was designated a North Carolina Historic Landmark.

Shaw University is the oldest historically black college in the South and often called the "mother of African-American colleges in North Carolina", because its alumni founded other colleges. [5] It is named after Elijah Shaw, an entrepreneur from Massachusetts who contributed financially for the establishment of the school. [6]

On March 31, 1886, it awarded the college's first medical degrees to six men. Leonard Medical Center was one of fourteen medical schools founded in the late 19th century for the education of African-Americans. [4] Describing the history of the building, then-President Talbert O. Shaw said, "For Shaw University and the black community, it stands out as one of the bastions of education for our people. We are very proud of it." [7]

History

1899 view Shaw University Hospital LOC cph 3c37209.jpg
1899 view
2008 view of Tyler Hall, formerly the hospital adjacent to Leonard Hall Tyler Hall Shaw University.JPG
2008 view of Tyler Hall, formerly the hospital adjacent to Leonard Hall

In 1865, the university was founded by Rev. Henry Martin Tupper and his wife Sarah Leonard Tupper, American Baptists, to educate freedmen following the Civil War. [8] Donations from people such as Judson Wade Leonard and Jacob Estey assisted in developing the college's growing campus. Estey donated money for construction of Estey Hall, first in the nation built for the education of African-American women. [9] [10]

In 1881, Leonard Hall began operating as the first four-year medical school in the country. [6] Leonard Hall, Leonard Medical Center's first building, opened in 1882. [8] It was named after Judson Wade Leonard, Sarah Tupper's brother, who donated money to help construct the school. [8] [11]

Leonard Hall held classrooms. A 34-bed medical dormitory and a 25-bed hospital were constructed next to it, the latter in 1910. The medical school complex was used to train Christian physicians serving African Americans. Prominent faculty members at the medical school included Kemp B. Battle Jr., son of President Kemp P. Battle of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Wisconsin I. Royster, great-uncle of Wall Street Journal editor Vermont C. Royster. [4]

Leonard Hall served as a medical school until 1918, when financial problems arose from rising costs associated with implementing recommendations of the Flexner Report on Medical Education for curriculum, research, and medical equipment. [12] During its 36-year history, the school graduated nearly 400 physicians, most of whom provided critical services to underserved populations throughout the South. [13] After the medical school closed, Leonard Hall continued to serve as a classroom building until 1986 when a fire destroyed the roof.

In 2000, a $3.6 million grant from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Fund and corporate donations resulted in the building's restoration. The historic facility is now used for classes and administrative offices. [7] In 2006 the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program installed a plaque to mark the location of Leonard Hall. [13]

Architecture

The twin-turreted brick building is of the Romanesque Revival style. The two corner towers feature arched bay windows and a rear addition with a matching corbelled cornice was later added to the building. The architect of Leonard Hall is unknown, but many believe it could be Gaston A. Edwards, a Shaw faculty member and designer in 1910 of the Leonard Hospital. [2] To save on construction costs, Shaw students made the bricks for the building. [4]

Alumni

Students at Leonard Medical Center in the late 19th Century Leonard Medical School.JPG
Students at Leonard Medical Center in the late 19th Century
Graduating class of 1889. M.T. Pope (class of 1886) is seated to the left on the front row. Leonard Medical School graduating class of 1889.JPG
Graduating class of 1889. M.T. Pope (class of 1886) is seated to the left on the front row.

Nearly every member of the first graduating class of 1886 went on to have a notable career and was deeply involved in civic life. M.T. Pope became a prominent physician in Raleigh and was also involved in local politics of the capital. During the time of racial segregation imposed disfranchisement, Pope was one of only seven African-American men in the city of Raleigh who managed to register to vote. He went on to run for mayor of Raleigh in 1919 on a non-partisan ticket with Calvin E. Lightner. His home is now a registered landmark and museum.

J.T. Williams practiced medicine at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Charlotte and was twice elected to the Board of Aldermen. Williams was appointed an ambassador to Sierra Leone by President William McKinley, serving from 1898 to 1907. J.T. Williams Middle School in Charlotte is named after him.

Class valedictorian Lawson Andrew Scruggs founded the Old North State Medical Society, the nation's oldest association of black physicians. He also founded a tuberculosis sanatorium in Southern Pines that treated many people from Raleigh.

Aaron McDuffie Moore, graduate of the 1888 class, became the first African-American physician in Durham. He co-founded the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, the largest and oldest black-owned business in the United States. Moore convinced philanthropist Washington Duke to build a hospital instead of a monument as a better way to honor black troops who fought for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. [4] [14]

Clinton Caldwell Boone, earned the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1910 at Leonard Hall. He had already spent years in the Congo as a missionary. Upon graduation in 1910 he was posted to the newly developing Republic of Liberia to represent the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention as a medical missionary Liberia. He helped to build a schoolhouse and hospital in the Congo, as well as a school in Liberia. Also became the President of the first church in Liberia, Providence Baptist Church, founded by Lott Carey in 1822.

Dr George Louis Alphonso Pogue Graduated from the medical school at Leonard Hall with a Doctor of Medicine in 1911. [15] In 1912 Pogue moved his family to Bedford Virginia where he opened an integrated pharmacy at 111 S Bridge Street. [16] He served the community in a number of ways and saw patients in his office and home until his death March 6, 1956.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raleigh, North Carolina</span> Capital city of North Carolina, United States

Raleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeast, the 41st-most populous city in the U.S., and the largest city of the Research Triangle metro area. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city. The city covers a land area of 147.6 sq mi (382 km2). The U.S. Census Bureau counted the city's population as 467,665 in the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the now-lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.

The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Anchored by the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, the region is home to three major research universities: North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, respectively. The "Triangle" name originated in the 1950s with the creation of Research Triangle Park located between the three anchor cities, which is the largest research park in the United States and home to numerous high tech companies.

Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the formation of a theological class of freedmen in the Guion Hotel. The following year it moved to a large wooden building, at the corner of Blount and Cabarrus Streets in Raleigh, where it continued as the Raleigh Institute until 1870. In 1870, the school moved to its current location on the former property of Confederate General Barringer and changed its name to the Shaw Collegiate Institute, in honor of Elijah Shaw. In 1875, the school was officially chartered with the State of North Carolina as Shaw University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knoxville College</span> Black liberal arts college in Tennessee, U.S.

Knoxville College is a historically black liberal arts college in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, which was founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It is a United Negro College Fund member school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Carter Fuller</span>

Solomon Carter Fuller was a pioneering Liberian neurologist, psychiatrist, pathologist, and professor. Born in Monrovia, Liberia, he completed his college education and medical degree (MD) in the United States. He studied psychiatry in Munich, Germany, then returned to the United States, where he worked for much of his career at Westborough State Hospital in Westborough, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Lankford</span> American architect

John A. Lankford, American architect. He was the first professionally licensed African American architect in Virginia in 1922 and in the District of Columbia in 1924. He has been regarded as the "dean of black architecture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope House Museum</span> Historic house in North Carolina, United States

The Pope House Museum, built in 1901, is a restored home once owned by Dr. Manassa Thomas Pope, a prominent African-American citizen of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Pope House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, It was an official project of the Save America’s Treasures Program and the city of Raleigh took over management of it, offering tours for the first time in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estey Hall</span> United States historic place

Estey Hall is a historic building on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the first building constructed for the higher education of African-American women in the United States. Built in 1873, Estey Hall is the oldest surviving building at Shaw, which is the oldest historically black college in the South and was the second institution of higher learning established for freedmen after the Civil War. The building, originally known as "Estey Seminary," was named in honor of Jacob Estey, the largest donor to the construction project. Estey Hall, located in the East Raleigh-South Park Historic District, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is a Raleigh Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Raleigh–South Park Historic District</span> Historic district in North Carolina, United States

The East Raleigh–South Park Historic District is the largest African-American neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. The district, located south and east of downtown Raleigh, covers approximately 30 blocks and contains portions of the Smith–Haywood and St. Petersburg neighborhoods. Most homes in these neighborhoods were built between 1900 and 1940, with one-fifth dating back to the 19th century. Historic buildings in the district include Estey Hall and Leonard Hall, both located on the campus of Shaw University. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 1990.

Duke University Hospital is a 957-bed acute care facility and an academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hospitals serving Durham County and Wake County, North Carolina, and surrounding areas, as well as one of three Level I referral centers for the Research Triangle of North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Duke University School of Medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Martin Tupper</span> American army chaplain (1831–1893)

Henry Martin Tupper was an American Baptist minister who founded Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Beginning with bible and literacy classes in December 1865, it was the second university established for African Americans following the end of the civil war, and the second oldest historically black college and university (HBCU) in the Southern United States, as well as one of the oldest co-educational universities in the country. When the institute moved into a new building in 1871, it was renamed as Shaw Collegiate Institute in honor of a major donor. Tupper served as the University's first president from its founding until his death in 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William F. Penn</span> American physician

William Fletcher Penn was a prominent African-American medical doctor in Atlanta, Georgia and a founding member of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Hospital (Durham, North Carolina)</span> Hospital in North Carolina, United States

Lincoln Hospital was a medical facility located in Durham, North Carolina founded to serve the African Americans of Durham County and surrounding areas. With original hospital construction financed by the Duke family, Lincoln served as the primary African American hospital in Durham from its opening in 1901 until 1976, when it closed and transferred its inpatient services to Durham County General Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Caldwell Boone</span> Baptist minister

Clinton Caldwell Boone was an African-American Baptist minister, physician, dentist, and medical missionary who served in the Congo Free State and Liberia. The son of Rev. Lemuel Washington Boone and Charlotte (Chavis) Boone of Hertford County, North Carolina, he played an important role in Africa as a missionary for the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention and the American Baptist Missionary Union, now American Baptist International Ministries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawson A. Scruggs</span> American physician (1857–1914)

Lawson Andrew Scruggs (1857–1914) was a physician in North Carolina who was active in politics and civil rights. He was African American. In 1893, he published a volume of biographies of African-American Women, Women of Distinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Agnes Hospital (Raleigh, North Carolina)</span> Former Black hospital

St. Agnes Hospital was a private hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Open from 1896 to 1961, it served the city's black residents. The hospital and an associated nursing school were founded after Aaron Burris Hunter and Sarah Hunter, instructors at St. Augustine's College, became concerned about the limited options local black residents had for medical care. Originally operating out of a former home on St, Augustine's campus, the hospital moved to a new four-story stone building in 1909. Largely reliant on philanthropic contributions, the hospital struggled to maintain adequate funding throughout its existence and served a large number of charity patients. Accredited by the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons, dozens of physicians and approximately 500 nurses were trained at the hospital. By the mid-1950s, the hospital was struggling to fund advancements needed to keep up with improving medical care and stricter accreditation standards. The hospital building was condemned in 1955 and the institution closed in April 1961 after Wake County opened a public hospital to treat both black and white patients. The main hospital building fell into ruins, and in 1979 it was declared a local historic landmark by the city of Raleigh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac D. Burrell</span> American physician

Isaac David Burell was an physician and pharmacist in Roanoke, Virginia. He was African-American.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Otey Kay</span> African-American dressmaker

Willie Virginia Otey Kay was an African-American dressmaker. She was known for making wedding dresses and debutante gowns for almost sixty years, becoming one of the most sought-after designers for women's formalwear in North Carolina. Kay began her dressmaking business during the Jim Crow Era, catering to both black and white clientele. She dressed young women being presented to society at the all-white North Carolina Debutante Ball and the all-black Alpha Kappa Alpha Debutante Ball, often attending the balls as a guest. In 1935, McCall's did a story on Kay and her work. In 1951, one of Kay's debutante gowns was featured on the cover of Life. Her work was also featured in The News & Observer and, in 2016, the North Carolina Museum of History presented an exhibit on her life. Kay was the mother of civil rights activist June Kay Campbell and the grandmother of politicians Ralph Campbell Jr. and Bill Campbell.

References

  1. Ward, Thomas J. (2003). Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN   9781610750721. Leonard was the first American medical school, for blacks or whites, to adopt a four-year curriculum....
  2. 1 2 3 "Leonard Hall". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  3. Fisher, W. Douglas; Buckley, Joann H. (2015-12-03). African American Doctors of World War I: The Lives of 104 Volunteers. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-6315-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Blackburn Jr., Charles (September 2006). "Making History" (PDF). Our State. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  5. "About Shaw University". Shaw University. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  6. 1 2 Jackson, Cynthia L.; Nunn, Eleanor F. (2003). Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-1-85109-422-6.
  7. 1 2 Wallace, Kamal (2000-10-16). "Shaw University Re-opens Historical Landmark". wral.com . Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  8. 1 2 3 Pollitt, Phoebe Ann (2017-09-29). African American Hospitals in North Carolina: 39 Institutional Histories, 1880-1967. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-6724-9.
  9. "History". Shaw University. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  10. "Estey Hall". National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  11. "Leaders of Raleigh Walking Tour". raleighnc.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  12. "Black History Month, A Medical Perspective". Duke University Medical Center Library. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  13. 1 2 "State marks Shaw's medical school". The News & Observer . 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2008-03-24.[ dead link ]
  14. "Founders and Early Builder". North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  15. “Thirty-Second Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of the Leonard Medical School.” Forgottenbooks.com, 2016.
  16. Woodcock, Noelle. “Dr. George Louis Alfonso Pogue – Pharmacist, Doctor & Civil Rights Activist in Bedford.” Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library , Find G Local, 1 Feb. 2021, www.findglocal.com/US/Bedford/311951041346/Bedford-Museum-%26-Genealogical-Library.

35°46′13″N78°38′20″W / 35.7702°N 78.6390°W / 35.7702; -78.6390