Hospitals

The interview includes Ackerly's recollections of World War I and its influence on his career; his medical education at Yale University (MD 1925); work with the Yale Institute for Human Relations until he came to Louisville in 1933; the Louisville Child Guidance Clinic beginning in the 1930s; the development of the Dept. of Psychiatry of the University of Louisville beginning in the late 1930s; Ackerly's work with Barry Bingham, Sr. in publishing They Can be Cured (1937) with the subsequent passage of the Chandler-Wallace Act reforming Kentucky's state-supported mental hospitals; the accelerated medical training program at the University of Louisville in World War II; the advent of the Psychiatrist in Residence at the University of Louisville during the 1960s and 1970s.

Dr. Bell discusses his early life and education, including his training at Alcorn College, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College. He discusses his involvement with the Red Cross Hospital, a Black-run hospital in Louisville that was known as Community Hospital starting in 1972. (The hospital, founded in 1899, closed in 1975.) Dr. Bell became involved with the hospital in the early 1940s, and discusses the developments there, including the institution of a nurses' training program, integration, fundraising, and other issues. He discusses the clientele of the hospital as well as the care they received. He also talks about the loss to the Black community at the closing of the hospital, and the apparent lack of loyalty the community had to the institution. He discusses Hattie Bishop Speed, as a person and as a supporter of the hospital.

Mrs. Frank, a medical librarian, discusses the University Hospital Library and the hospital since 1934.

Institutional history of River Region Hospital (formerly Central State Hospital). Morrison was administrator of the hospital in 1975.

Dr. Rabb discusses his early life and education in Mississippi. He speaks of his experiences as a student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, comparing race relations in his hometown to those in Nashville. He also discusses student activism at Fisk while he was a student. He describes his medical education at Meharry Medical College, and his internship at Kansas City General Hospital Number 2, the segregated public hospital for blacks in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Rabb practiced in Shelbyville, Kentucky from 1930 to 1946, and he discusses his practice there, including his relationships with the white physicians in town. Rabb left Shelbyville for Louisville, and he discusses the difficulties that led him to make that move. He talks about his move to Louisville and the support (in the form of office space) he received from Dr. C. Milton Young, Jr. He goes on to discuss his work at Red Cross Hospital, and how he came to be the first African American admitted for post-graduate training at Louisville General Hospital. He describes other areas of integration, including the University of Louisville and its athletic programs. He talks about his leadership role in Louisville's Human Relations Commission, particularly in the area of integrating the police force. He describes his own encounters with racism, the changes he's seen over time, and his role in the sit-ins in Louisville in 1960. He also talks about the integration of public housing. He notes that his proudest achievement is his involvement with the NAACP; he was also a founder of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union.

University Hospital Groundbreaking 10/24/74