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McClennan Banks legacy to be honored in exhibit, reception In tribute to the men and women who created the McClennan Banks legacy, those who worked diligently to continue it, and those who live it today. A tribute to the McClennan Banks legacy will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Zion-Olivet Presbyterian Church, 134 Cannon St. The exhibit and reception will follow at 135 Cannon St. The History The opening of the Hospital and Training School for Nurses provided a place of dignity and respect for African-American patients to go for treatment and for African-American doctors to practice. It was also known as the Cannon Street Hospital and grew out of the need to provide practical experience for nursing students who were denied access at the (Charleston) City Hospital and Old Folks Home. The Hospital and Training School for Nurses was the first hospital in South Carolina established for nurse training and the ninth black institution of its kind in the country. Hospital and Training School for Nurses, 135 Cannon Street. While both the Cannon Street Hospital and its successor, the McClennan Banks Memorial Hospital served primarily African-Americans, no one was denied admission and some white doctors sent white patients to the hospitals and treated them there. The original institution was conceived at a meeting called by Dr. Alonzo C. McClennan at his office in the fall of 1896. Of the seven health care professionals attending the meeting, five of the six physicians and one dentist supported the idea of a colored hospital and training school. These health care providers faced the same reality of other African-Americans in the late nineteenth century, exclusion from the white dominated medical establishment. At that time, white hospitals either excluded or segregated black patients and barred black physicians from admitting and caring for their patients in their homes or in hospitals. The Hospital and Training School for Nurses was run by a corporation of local black health providers and community leaders and received its state charter in July 1897. That fall, it opened its doors at 135 Cannon Street and in a house built in 1800. It was a three-story brick building with three attached structures. The property was bought for $4,500. Another $1,500 was needed to purchase equipment. The Cannon Street Hospital was a 24-bed facility with nurses quarters, an operating room, reception room and office. The Hospital and Training School for Nurses depended on donations from individuals, churches and other charitable organizations to sustain itself. Donations did not only include money, but also items like beds, linens, furniture, supplies and food. The need for financial support for the colored hospital continued through its history. Appeals were always made in The Hospital Herald, a publication written and edited by Dr. McClennan and other staff members. Fundraising events included community fairs, teas, and in later years radiothons a telethon, and a “womanless” wedding, featuring physicians. A great deal of time and attention were devoted to fund raising, but not to the neglect of the mission of training women of African descent to be nurses and the care of patients. Six physicians served as medical directors from 1897 to 1959: Alonzo C. McClennan, M.D., William H. Johnson, M.D., Ridley U. McClennan, M.D., Herbert U. Seabrook, M.D., Edward B. Burroughs, M.D., and Thomas Carr McFall, M.D. The head nurses at the Cannon Street Hospital were Anna DeCosta Banks, who served for 32 years, Ruby Long, Mabel C. Oliver, Charlotte Pembroke and Melvena Gadsden.  The Hospital and Training School for Nurses continued to operate at 135 Cannon Street, but was threatened with losing its accreditation because of the deteriorating condition of the physical facility.  Dr. McFall, who took the reins as medical director in 1947, was soon faced with raising money to renovate the Cannon Street Hospital or build a new facility. Dr. McFall determined that a new hospital would have to be built or the Hospital and Training School for Nurses would close. In early 1950, Dr. McFall joined forces with other black doctors, dentists, pharmacists and business and religious leaders to campaign for a new hospital. In addition to seeking support from the black community, an appeal was made to the Charleston County Council for $88,000 towards construction of a new hospital. The appeal met with competing efforts, including one from Roper Hospital to enlarge the Negro wing at its hospital. The Roper Hospital proposal also included allowing black physicians to practice in the wing and offering nurses training. In 1956, County Council approved the $88,000 allocation for the new hospital which would be named the McClennan Banks Memorial Hospital in honor of the founder, Dr. Alonzo C. McClennan and the first head nurse, Anna DeCosta Banks. On May 31, 1959, the new hospital, a modern 31-bed facility, opened at 25 Courtenay Drive. The old and the new hospital continued to serve the health care needs of the African-American community until changing times, desegregation and financial hardships forced it to close its doors forever on Dec. 31, 1976. The Leaders Dr. Alonzo Clifton McClennan spearheaded the drive to open a hospital and training school for nurses in Charleston. He was born in Columbia in 1855. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1873. He resigned after only four months and continued his study at Wesleyan Academy in Massachusetts during 1874. McClennan also attended the University of South Carolina and matriculated to Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was graduated with honors from both the School of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine. He moved to Charleston in 1884 and established the first Negro drug store, The People’s Pharmacy. Dr. McClennan served as the hospital’s medical director as well as surgeon in charge and instructor of surgical nursing until his death in 1912. He also helped establish the first statewide African-American medical association, the Association of Colored Physicians of South Carolina. In 1900, the association was renamed the Palmetto Association of Physicians, Pharmacists and Dentists of South Carolina, which exists today. Dr. McClennan was also the editor of the Hospital Herald—A Monthly Journal Devoted to Hospital Work, Nurse Training and Domestic and Public Hygiene. Besides health-related matters, he used the Herald to raise money. In one issue he wrote: “Every penny you give will do something toward the relief of suffering and toward training some deserving colored woman in an honorable and useful profession.” Dr. McClennan also used the Hospital Herald to address race relations and other issues affecting blacks. Anna DeCosta Banks, R.N., was born in Charleston in 1869. She was educated in Charleston schools and at Hampton Institute in Virginia. After graduating in 1891, Mrs. Banks enrolled at the Dixie Hospital School of Nursing at Hampton, finishing first in her class. She served for two years as head nurse at the Dixie Hospital and returned home about the time the Hospital and Training School for Nurses was being organized in Charleston. According to nurse Banks, only half of those treated were able to pay the $3-a-week charge. Those short of cash would give rice, corn, eggs or chickens in place of money. Mrs. Banks worked tirelessly at the hospital but also worked as a visiting nurse with the Ladies Benevolent Society. When she died in 1930, the Benevolent Society paid her this tribute: “All ages, classes, races, called her blessed.”   Thomas Carr McFall, M.D., was the driving force behind the building of a new hospital. When it opened in 1959, he told the News and Courier, “This is the happiest day of my life since 1938 when I came back to Charleston to practice.” Before a new hospital could be built, Dr. McFall had faced a long and hard struggle just to keep the outdated Cannon Street Hospital open. Housed in a building built in the early 1800s, the hospital had been on the brink of being ordered to shut down. The Charleston native who attended Avery Institute, Lincoln University and the University of Michigan Medical School served as medical director of both hospitals until his death in 1969. Dr. McFall also maintained a thriving private practice. The Legacy In 1961, the Hospital and Training School for Nurses was razed. By that time, the new hospital on Courtenay Drive had been in operation for two years. When it closed 17 years later, the building was used as the county’s Substance Abuse Center. In 1994, MUSC dedicated its ambulatory care center as the McClennan Banks Ambulatory Center. The Courtenay Drive hospital was torn down in 2004 to make room for the new MUSC hospital. The site at 135 Cannon St. continues to serve the health needs of all. First graduation class of the Hospital and Training School for Nurses, June 13, 1899. Perhaps what speaks volumes about the Hospital and Training School for Nurses and the McClennan Banks Hospital were the commitment, dedication, devotion and support provided by the physicians, nurses and the community. The training the nurses received was inferior to none and won the praise of many white physicians and private families who employed them. The untiring efforts of the Board of Directors, the doctors, nurses and community helped keep the doors open for nearly 80 years. What was accomplished earned the respect of all. Nearly 108 years after the Hospital and Training School for Nurses opened and 44 years after the original Cannon Street site was razed, African-American doctors practice at the hospitals that once denied them that privilege. African-American students are enrolled in MUSC’s College of Medicine and College of Nursing and other schools. African-American patients are no longer denied admittance or forced into “colored wards” at local hospitals. The Future The MUSC Hospital Replacement Project involves replacement and consolidation of Charleston Memorial Hospital and the Medical University Hospital. The goal of the project is to replace CMH and relocate several MUH services to bring the facility up to date and consolidate the state of the art services provided by MUH which are currently dispersed throughout the campus. The proposed project aims to meet the needs of the growing South Carolina population. In the design development phase for MUSC’s hospital replacement project, a great deal of consideration was given to the historic significance of the site that is being used to host the new facility. More specifically in recognition of the efforts and mission of the McClennan Banks Memorial Hospital that previously occupied a portion of the site for MUSC’s new hospital it is planned that a special display feature will be incorporated into the interior to commemorate the many accomplishments and activities of the McClennan Banks facility and the founders for which it was named. While specific details for such a display have not yet been developed, it is intended that the plaques used to dedicate the original building will be used as a focal point for the display. The McClennan Banks Commemorative Project includes establishing an endowment that will provide scholarships for students attending the Medical University. The criteria for awarding the scholarships will be first to African-American students, preferably from Charleston or South Carolina. Consideration will also be given to non-African-Americans who commit to honoring the McClennan Banks legacy by working with the most vulnerable in our society and/or with minorities. A committee of representatives from the community, the Medical University and the Health Sciences Foundation will work together to help identify scholarship winners. The first scholarships will be awarded at the opening of Phase 1 of the new hospital and the dedication of the permanent memorial to McClennan Banks. The projected completion date is fall 2007. The Feb. 27 tribute to the McClennan Banks legacy will include an open house  of the offices at 135 Cannon to show the community the health c are services still being offered at that location.    Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.