Category: African American History

Discussing the History of African American Health Care

Dr. George T. Stansbury in Havre de Grace.
A poster at the Havre de Grace Colored School honors Dr. George T. Stansbury

For years, I have studied African American health care, seeking to understand the history of practices before Black Americans gained access to mainstream medicine. This fieldwork has given me the opportunity to interview nurses, aides, physicians, and tradition bearers in communities across Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 

So when the Association for the Study of African American Life and History selected “Black Health and Wellness” as its 2022 theme, a couple of organizations asked me to discuss the contributions of two medical pioneers in Maryland. 

Dr. Stansbury in Havre de Grace

In the 20th century, African American physicians established practices in more communities. In Harford County, Dr. George T. Stansbury opened his office in Havre de Grace in 1950. But the Howard University College of Medicine graduate could not admit patients to Harford Memorial Hospital, which maintained a segregated ward.

In 1960, a tragedy occurred at the hospital when the staff initially denied a young Black woman full access to all the labor and delivery facilities after medical complications developed. Dr. Stansbury spent the night with the patient, doing what he could to save the newborn and mother. But, both passed away. The father sued, and in 1963, the hospital agreed to integrate.

The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center honored Dr. George T. Stansbury with several activities, including a documentary. For the film, I discussed Dr. Stansbury’s role in the incident.

Dr. James Johnson in Elkton
Dr. James L. Johnson, an african american health care physician
Dr. James L. Johnson, the Elkton Physician

For the Cecil County Chapter of the NAACP, I talked about Dr. James L. Johnson. The graduate of Meharry Medical College, a Freedmen’s Bureau-era School in Nashville, TN, came to Elkton to open his office in 1934. When Dr. Johnson started practicing medicine in the middle of the Great Depression, the county’s health care system was segregated, like every other aspect of life in Cecil County. To admit patients to Union Hospital, Doctor Johnson made arrangements with one of the community’s white physicians.

The segregated system for patient care remained in place until landmark civil rights decisions in the 1960s forced changes. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, hospital desegregation rulings in the federal courts, the passage of Medicare and Medicaid, and other initiatives created a Civil Rights era in health care. Consequently, the separate wards system ended in Elkton as Doctor Johnson received full staff privileges. The respected physician maintained a busy practice until the 1970s.

It is important to remember those who paved the way for the current generation and the difficulties they faced. 

Enslaved Person Led British Invaders into an Ambush

When the War of 1812 arrived on the Chesapeake Bay, it created opportunities for enslaved people to flee with the British to freedom. The invaders liberated some 4,000 people and “used several hundred in their army in a special unit known as the Colonial Marines,” according to the National Park Service.

As the British offensive moved into the northern Chesapeake in April 1813, about nineteen percent of the people in Cecil County were enslaved. Of these 2,467 individuals at least one, Hetty Boulden, held as property by Frisby Henderson of Frenchtown, helped the local militia turn the British back during the attack on the Elk River. Boulden faced great personal risk in undertaking this action.

In some incidental old newspaper sketches that faded from memory long ago, her story had been mentioned. But as time moved on historians largely forgot it in the written volumes about the past in this area.

Thus as the Historic Elk Landing Foundation started seeking to develop its interpretations of the site, the nonprofit foundation commissioned a study to assess and further research the narrative to see what could be determined from those few elusive traces. So I undertook a study of the questions centered around Hetty Boulden and her life.

Part of the strategy of the Historic Elk Landing Foundation (HELF) was to develop historically accurate character interpretations of individuals directly associated with the British incursion on the Upper Elk River in April 1813. HELF was particularly concerned with presenting some underrepresented accounts involving people passed over by the customary local historiography.

There was an assortment of individuals who could have been integrated into this cohort of additional, including women, African Americans, enslaved people, indentured servants, immigrants, and society outcasts, if carefully sourced clues could be developed to trace the narratives back through time. But using an evidence-based standard Boulden presented the strongest narrative, based on available traces.

Elk Landing Stone House
The stone house at Elk Landing was built around 1800 (source: Mike Dixon)

Thus, this report, prepared at the request of HELF investigated the life­ story of this Cecil County citizen, using customary research methods and evidentiary guidelines to develop proof points and flush out determinations supported by the historical record. The investigation confirmed that an African American female by the name of hetty or Hettie Boulden lived in Cecil County for most of the 19th century. Also, there is evidence to support the narratives that she was present when the British came up the River and that she was involved in misdirecting and helping to resist the enemy’s advance on Elkton.

The full report provides the details and assesses the validity and reliability of the evidentiary traces that were discovered during this investigation.

Effort to Save Levi Coppin School Continues as State Reopens Review Process

CECILTON – September 2, 2020 – The demolition plan for the Levi Coppin School in Cecilton is being reassessed as a “post-review discovery” under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).  Some months earlier, a determination had been made that the demolition of this African-American landmark would not adversely impact the community.

But with the clock ticking advocates heard that it was going to be razed so they stepped forward to provide significant information that hadn’t been discovered when the first 106 review was completed.  Some of these new insights came from former students at Levi Coppin, while other evidence of important traces of earlier times came from a thesis, and a Google search that located blog posts, and articles published in the Cecil Whig in recent years.   

Levi coppin school
The Levi Coppin School in Cecilton in the first half of 2020

For the moment the demolition is on hold in light of extra evidence of significance offered through petitions, letters, and the web as the State has opened the process to review the original determination.  One of the steps in reconsidering the original declaration took place this afternoon in a former classroom at 233 Bohemia Avenue as people interested in making remarks about the adverse effect and potential mitigation of the proposed demolition offered comments for consideration and the public record. 

Sixteen people attended this meeting.  Representatives from the town, county, and state, along with the developer, townspeople, faith community representatives, and historic preservationists, were present.  Joining by phone was the executive director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, Chanel Compton, and Beth Cole from the Maryland Historical Trust.

The Cecil Historical Trust, a countywide preservation advocacy organization, sent a letter, saying that “due to the important history of the school and that period of transition to desegregated schools in the 1950s,” the group wanted to express support for preserving the building and revitalizing it for appropriate community use. 

In the weeks leading up to this public hearing, the Maryland Historical Trust wrote a letter to Kyle Dixon, saying that “Based on the information you provided, we informed DHCD that the historic structure slated for demolition is the former Levi Coppin School, which was constructed in 1950, served as the school to educate African-American children, and continued to operate as a segregated school until its closure in 1965. The Cecilton school may be significant in the context of efforts toward school reform in the immediate postwar period, and for its association with school desegregation. The construction of the school apparently was motivated by the findings of a federal school survey; its architecture may reflect standards for “separate but equal” facilities of the period. While the school has not been formally inventoried or evaluated for its eligibility in the National Register of Historic Places, Section 106 regulations allow the agency official, in consultation with the Trust/SHPO, to assume that the newly identified property is eligible for the National Register for purposes of Section 106 consultation [36 CFR 800.13(c)]. We have advised DHCD that it would be appropriate to assume that the Levi Coppin School is eligible for the National Register.”

This is the first step in the review process, as advocates for preserving the building and its history stepped forward. 

Levi Coppin School in 1971.
The Levi Coppin School in 1971 (Source: Cecil Whig)

Also See

A petition to Save the Levi Coppin School.

Leading up to the reopening of the State’s review process, interested parties circulated virtual and paper petitions. About 630 people ask that the dcision to demolish it be reconsidered.