Hundreds of people gathered in Charlotte on Thursday for a ceremony unveiling a new historical marker honoring the Good Samaritan Hospital, the first public hospital in North Carolina to treat African Americans during segregation.
The marker was unveiled at Ebenezer Baptist Church on West Sugar Creek Road. The hospital opened in 1891 and initially housed about 20 patients before expanding to roughly 100. It also operated a school that trained Black nurses at a time when educational and medical opportunities for African Americans were limited.
Dr. Alvin Powell petitioned the state for the commemorative marker to ensure the hospital’s legacy is not forgotten.
“This history is extremely important and unknown and not remembered, so we need to recognize our history so we can understand the present,” Powell said.
The marker was approved through the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program. Leslie Leonard, the program’s administrator, said Powell’s application demonstrated the hospital’s significance beyond Charlotte.
“Dr. Powell submitted documentation that showed not only was Good Samaritan Hospital the first privately funded segregated hospital in North Carolina, but they also were able to treat patients from across county lines, which made it more than just a locally significant space," Leonard said. "It added regional and then statewide significance to it.”
Leonard said a committee of ten professors unanimously voted to approve the marker. Leonard also said there are 1,669 historical markers across the state, with every county having at least one.
“It is very difficult to get a marker approved. Any applicant has to demonstrate statewide significance for a marker. We receive many applications per year. At each committee meeting, I would say 40-60% of those markers get approved,” Leonard said.
For some attendees, the unveiling was deeply personal. Eighty-one-year-old Nancy Huntley was born at Good Samaritan Hospital. She said the hospital played a critical role in providing professional medical care for Black families during segregation.
“It was essential that we had a place for us to be born in, you know, because sometimes, you know, back in those days there were like the midwives and things like this, so with the hospital, the hospital, it was more professional, it was more convenient if a child was born with something,” Huntley said.
She said the marker represents people in the community.
“That we’re important, we are important, and we’re part of this human race, and at the time we were getting what the human, what we needed,” Huntley said.
The Good Samaritan Hospital closed in 1982, but community members say the new marker ensures its impact will not be forgotten.
