Red Cross Hospital

In 1899, because black physicians were barred from treating patients at public or church hospitals, Drs. W. T. Merchant, Ellis D. Whedbee, and R. B. Scott founded Red Cross Hospital at Sixth and Walnut Street. In 1905, it moved to 1436 S. Shelby St. and offered training programs for black nurses and physicians. Mary E. Merritt, the first female and black nurse registered in Ky., was superintendent and head nurse until 1945. Blacks in Ky. cities that did not provide hospital facilities were treated here. In the early 1960s, local hospitals desegregated, and increased operating costs led to its decline. It closed in 1976 as Community Hospital.

Louisville, Kentucky · United States