Date of Award

Spring 2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

History

Director of Thesis

Bobby Donaldson, PhD

Second Reader

Robert Rhinehart, PhD

Abstract

From 1900 to 1970, widespread racism severely restricted healthcare access for Black citizens in the South, leading them to establish and staff alternative healthcare institutions to support their community.

Such institutions faced debilitating issues such as chronic financial shortages and patient overflow. Despite these problems, oral histories, media, and primary written sources show that Black healthcare workers in alternative healthcare institutions demonstrated a greater ability to meet the health needs of Black patients due to cultural understanding and external community involvement.

Dr. Matilda Evans was an African-American woman physician who became a leader in medicine, public health, and education in Columbia, South Carolina. She founded the Taylor Lane Hospital and Training School for Nurses and subsequently, the Evans Clinic and the Zion Baptist Church Clinic. Outside of her practice, she uplifted the well-being of her community by widely distributing public health education and operating a farm to provide jobs, food, and recreation.

The Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital was an alternative healthcare institution created by and for the residents of the Waverly Historic District in Columbia, S.C. Its hospital staff demonstrated specialized cultural understanding with its patients through equitable hospital policy and compassionate patient interactions.

This thesis includes a cumulative biography of the Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital and Dr. Evans along with an extensive analysis of how each uniquely met the health needs of their patients.

First Page

1

Last Page

115

Rights

© 2024, Anusha Ghosh

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