Homer G. Phillips Hospital
Homer G. Phillips Hospital | |
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Geography | |
Location | St. Louis Landmark
|
Art deco | |
NRHP reference No. | 82004738 |
Homer G. Phillips Hospital was the only public hospital for
Located at 2601 N. Whittier Street in
After being adapted for residential use, it reopened as
History
Construction
Between 1910 and 1920, the black population of St. Louis increased by sixty percent, as rural migrants came North in the
When the bond issue was passed in 1923, the city refused to allocate funding for the hospital, instead advocating a segregated addition to the original City Hospital, located in the
Construction on the site began in October 1932, with the city initially using funds from the 1923 bond issue and later from the newly formed
Operation
Although by 1944 the hospital ranked among the ten largest
After a 1955 order by Mayor Raymond Tucker to desegregate city hospitals, Homer G. Phillips began admitting patients regardless of race, color or religious beliefs. However, it remained a primarily black institution into the 1960s, by tradition and because of the ethnic character of its neighborhood. In 1960, each department of the hospital was staffed by at least one black doctor who also was a staff member of either Washington University in St. Louis or Saint Louis University, and in 1962, three-fourths of the interns at the hospital were black.
Closure
As early as 1961, proposals were made to merge Homer G. Phillips with City Hospital. Although some leaders in the black community opposed the idea (such as
From 1964 until 1979, no other departments were moved. However, on August 17, 1979, St. Louis abruptly closed all departments at Homer G. Phillips Hospital except for a small
In the midst of the protests, the hospital was listed by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen as a
Renovation
In 1988, developer William Thomas began negotiations to convert the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital into a
In 1998, the daughter of William Thomas, Sharon Thomas Robnett, renewed negotiations with the city to convert the building into a low-income nursing home and apartments for the elderly. She signed a 99-year lease on the property.[11]
In December 2001, renovations began on the main building through Robnett's development company, W.A.T. Dignity Corp., and Dominium Management Services, continuing through July 2003.
Architecture
The original Homer G. Phillips complex includes a main central building, four
Although many hospitals were constructed in the 1920s as
Controversy
In 2015, the Associated Press reported that 18 women who gave birth at Homer G. Phillips and were told their babies had died during birth believe their children might be alive.[13] Albert Watkins, an attorney at law representing the women, says that the births occurred from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, that all of the mothers were black and poor, mostly from ages 15 to 20, and that in every case a nurse told the mother that her child had died but that she could not view the child's body. Because they had been prevented from seeing their reportedly dead children, these women suspect that there may have been a baby selling ring at the hospital.[14] These claims were dismissed by U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan when medical records revealed that one of the parents had given birth at a different hospital and had abandoned her baby.[15]
See also
- History of St. Louis, Missouri
- List of hospitals of St. Louis, Missouri
- National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis (city, A–L), Missouri
- Racial segregation in the United States
- Race and health
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Homer G. Phillips Hospital" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 1982-09-23.
- ^ "American Medical College, Barnes Medical College, and National University of Arts and Sciences Collection - Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives". beckerarchives.wustl.edu.
- ^ a b Clayton, Edward T. (September 1977). "The Strange Murder of Homer G. Phillips". Ebony. pp. 160–164. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Tandy Community Center" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 1999-09-17.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Tandy Community Center". National Park Service. Retrieved November 13, 2023 – via NARA. With accompanying pictures
- ^ a b "Integration Threatens to Close St. Louis Hospital". Jet. October 26, 1961. p. 51. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ISBN 1-883982-45-6.
- ^ a b c d e f Stein, Lana (1991). Holding Bureaucrats Accountable: Politicians and Professionals in St. Louis. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 72–75.
- ^ "Homer G. Phillips Hospital St. Louis Landmark listing". St. Louis City Cultural Resources Office. St. Louis City.
- ^ a b c d e f Allen, Michael (February 22, 2005). "Short History of Homer G. Phillips Hospital". Preservation Research Office. Archived from the original on April 26, 2005. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ^ Manning, Margie (March 14, 1999). "$32 million apartments, care center planned for Homer G. site". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved Jan 20, 2011.
- ^ a b Terry, John (January 30, 2005). "Homer G. Phillips senior center has waiting list". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved Jan 20, 2011.
- ^ "18 women suspect that babies they were told died are alive". www.msn.com.
- ^ Was former St. Louis hospital site for baby-selling ring?, CBS News
- ^ Patrick, Robert; Cambria, Nancy (August 14, 2015). "St. Louis' top federal prosecutor deflates baby-stealing ring claims". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
Further reading
- Early, Gerald Lyn (1998). Ain't But a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis. St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Historical Society Press. ISBN 1-883982-27-8.
External links
Media related to Homer G. Phillips Hospital at Wikimedia Commons
- Was former St. Louis hospital site for baby-selling ring?, CBS News
- Architectural history and photographs of Homer G. Phillips before, during and after renovation
- Architect and preservationist Michael Allen's site on Homer G. Phillips Hospital
- Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Homer G. Phillips School of Nursing records, 1929-1991