Abandoned Hospital in Savannah GA

Charity Hospital, Savannah Georgia

Date added: September 23, 2023 Categories: Georgia Hospital

The history of Charity Hospital began in 1893. In that year, Cornelius and Alice McKanes, two West Indian physicians, established McKane School for Nurses in their home in Savannah. It was the first school for nurses in southeast Georgia. The McKane Hospital for Women and Children began in 1896 on land donated at the corner of 36^th and Florence. Savannahian Anna Hutto donated an old house for the hospital and it was moved to the site and added onto during that year. This building would serve as a hospital until 1931. The McKanes left the hospital in the late 1890s. The African American medical staff in 1897 contained some Georgia-born doctors as well as the first Black City physician for Savannah. In 1901 the organization was recharted as the Charity Hospital and Training School for Nurses. At this time men were admitted to the hospital for the first time. The board of trustees from the 1890s-1920s included six black ministers, newspaper editors, and Savannah State professors.

During this period, hospital facilities for blacks in Savannah were woefully inadequate. There were only two hospitals to serve the African-American community since the rest of the hospitals in the community did not admit African Americans. Charity Hospital was very overcrowded and was described as "literally a tinderbox with a fire risk for those who occupied it, it is appalling to consider."

Because of these inadequacies, early in the 1920s Savannah Rabbi George Solomon led a campaign with the help of other Savannah religious and civic leaders to build a large, completely modern hospital to serve blacks in Savannah and the surrounding coastal areas. Architect Cletus W. Bergen was commissioned to design the hospital. By 1926, enough money had been raised to begin construction. In that year the cornerstone was laid amid much pomp and ceremony. The original estimated cost of the hospital building was $150,000. The early construction was supervised by an African-American contractor, William McKelvy.

Cletus W. Bergen (1895-1971) was a Savannah native who after being educated at Georgia Tech (B.S. 1919), returned home to practice architecture, forming a partnership with William B. Clarke and Morton H. Levy as Levy, Clarke and Bergen from 1922-1927. It was during this association that he designed the Charity Hospital. The firm was noted for designing the modern school system in Savannah and a wing for Telfair Hospital. In 1927 he began practicing on his own and can be credited with the Henry Ford Mansion at Richmond Hill, Georgia; Savannah State College Library, a public housing project, schools, private homes, and apartments.

By 1930, the walls and roof of the east wing and central pavilion of the structure had been completed, the west wing still had to be constructed and the building was unfinished. At this time the project ran out of money.

In order to complete the hospital, the largest fundraising drive in the hospital's history was organized. Two important supporters were used to help induce Savannahians to donate money for the hospital. The Ida Rosenwald Foundation (an organization interested in promoting black physicians) pledged $50,000 to the project if an equal amount could be raised locally. Sarah Mills Hodge, a wealthy Savannahian who was noted for her philanthropy in the black community, pledged fifty cents for every dollar donated by Savannahians. With these benefactors, a city-wide campaign drive was organized with military precision. "Divisions" were organized among the black and white population of the community. Most of the participants and the target audience were white. Each division was headed by a "general" who had several "teams" under him. Each team was headed by a "captain" and two "lieutenants." The activities of these divisions were widely publicized. The strategy sessions and other activities of these divisions were lavish social occasions and the fundraisers were heralded throughout the community. Promotional literature was prepared for this campaign and there were many newspaper articles about it. Publicity played upon two emotions, sympathy and fear. The publicity campaign attempted to develop sympathy for the deplorable conditions at the then-standing Charity Hospital. There was much discussion for the desperate need for a new hospital building. To a lesser extent, the campaign played upon the fears of the white population. They were told that a black population that did not receive proper hospital care could rapidly spread contagious diseases throughout the community. The fundraising drive was a tremendous success. Sixty-thousand, four hundred and thirty-one dollars ($60,431) was raised locally. Most of the money came from whites in Savannah, but over $10,000 came from the black community. The Savannah Morning News described the fundraising drive as "a story of sacrifice and determination on the part of blacks and watchful care on the part of the whites."

Construction resumed on the building in September of 1930 under the direction of Olaf Otto, a new white contractor. The building opened on April 15, 1931, with 36 beds, but minus the west wing. The publicly owned hospital was considered to be a completely modern facility when constructed. It was run by a black superintendent had black doctors and black nurses. The hospital had a white consulting staff at this time and a white executive board that included attorneys, a Rabbi, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, the Clerk of the Superior Court and several businessmen, and handled the financial matters of the hospital. The day-to-day operations of the hospital were supervised by a black board of trustees who were businessmen, insurance executives, a realtor, and librarian.

In 1937, the Nurse Training Program which had been in operation since 1893 closed. This was due to stricter standards established at this time for nurses training schools. In 1954, a Black American Legion Post provided money for the establishment of a Psychiatric Ward in the hospital. In 1957, a fire burned the roof off the central pavilion and seriously damaged the first floor. The roof was quickly repaired but put the hospital in financial difficulties. In 1960, the white executive board was abolished and complete control was placed with the board of trustees. The hospital continued to have difficulties. In 1964, it was sold to become a private nursing home and was operated as such under the name William A. Harris Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home into the 1970s until it closed. In 1982, a second fire devastated the roof. While the building has been vacant for a number of years, plans are underway by the owners, the Cuyler Community Improvement Association, to turn the hospital building into a community center, It will be used by the Cuyler Community which surrounds the hospital.

Building Description

Charity Hospital is a brick, Georgian Revival-style building. Its central portion contains a three-story pavilion facing West 36^th Street. The main (south) facade of this pavilion contains a portico that supports a porch on each floor. East of the central pavilion is a projecting wing. Wood and concrete are used for decorative elements. The south entrance includes an elaborate entranceway with a fanlight transom and a six-paneled wooden door. The east wing, originally designed to be a clinic, served as patient rooms and features a central hall that is connected to the central pavilion. In the central pavilion were the intern rooms, administrative offices, pharmacy, and wards on the first floor; private rooms, kitchen, laboratory, and wards on the second floor; and the operating area on the third floor. All floors were accessible by stairways and elevators. The interior is plainly finished and shows evidence of remodeling. There are a few shade trees between the hospital and the street and no outbuildings. The hospital is surrounded by cottages and rowhouses dating from the 1880s to the 1920s, all within the Cuyler community. While changes to the building have been minimal, a 1982 fire destroyed the roof over the central pavilion, exposed the third floor, and damaged the second-floor flooring. Some windows and doors have also been lost.