Fact Friday 448 - More about Good Samaritan Hospital

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This week's Fact Friday comes to you from the UNC Charlotte Special Collections and University Archives. If you enjoy their content, please support by considering following on social media (@cltspecoll). 

We've touched on different aspects of the historical significance of Good Samaritan Hospital in previous Fact Fridays. But this post definitely included some new information I wasn't aware of... which I love!

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On September 23, 1891, Good Samaritan Hospital opened as the first private hospital in North Carolina built for black citizens in Charlotte’s Third Ward. The hospital was constructed with funds raised by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. In 1903, the hospital opened its own School of Nursing to train black women in nursing which operated until the hospital’s closure in 1961. A notable success came in 1911, when a train wreck near Hamlet, NC brough 83 black patients to the hospital, of which there were only three casualties. “Good Sam’s” success helped legitimize the institution as a healthcare provider in the eyes of Charlotte’s white community, and helped secure funding for the hospital’s facilities. A board of women governed Good Sam until 1947, when a new executive board composed of two members of each local Episcopal church was organized.

Despite the growing reputation of Good Sam, it functioned under segregation in the Jim Crow South. This became especially apparent in the 1950s, when St. Peter’s faced difficulty in funding the hospital and providing it with up-to-date equipment that other hospitals already had access to. The legacy of the ‘separate but equal’ era continued to follow the hospital, and forced those like Thereasea Elder, the first black public health nurse in Charlotte, to serve Charlotte’s black community as best they could with the limitations they had. These realities became one of the reasons why black community leaders made it a goal to officially shut down the hospital, seeking to increase access to quality facilities to everyone. Despite this, the hospital still held significance to Charlotte’s black community. Brandon Lunsford, archivist at JCSU, stated “... a lot of political power was held by black doctors and dentists and it was a path for them to become middle class families [...] and be socially recognized.”

In 1961, the City of Charlotte gained ownership of Good Sam and it became the integrated Charlotte Community Hospital until it was converted into Magnolia’s Rest Home in 1982. In 1996, the rest home was demolished to make way for the construction of the Bank of America Stadium.

WBT/WBTV Corporate records, MS0234, UNC Charlotte

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Sources:  

UNC Charlotte Special Collections on Instagram, September 23, 2024.