In Raleigh, North Carolina, St. Agnes Hospital serviced the Black community from 1896 until 1961.
St Augustine's College students Aaron Burris Hunter and Sarah Hunter founded it.
It was first housed in a campus residence before relocating to a new stone structure in 1909.
The hospital was supported by donations and treated a lot of charity patients.
It trained doctors and nurses and was accredited by prestigious medical organizations.
By the middle of the 1950s, though, financial issues started to surface, leading to the hospital's demise in April 1961 as Wake County opened a public hospital for people of all races.
The main structure was left in ruins and was designated a local historic site in 1979.
Hospital' founding
Reverend Aaron Burris Hunter and his wife Sarah relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1867 to work as professors at St. Augustine's College, a black freedmen and women's only Episcopal school founded in the years following the American Civil War.
The Hunters grew increasingly worried over the years about the lack of access to healthcare for black people in the city as the school flourished.
Two benefactors, the Episcopal Church Women and I. L. Collins, who contributed $1,100 in response to the Hunters' request, funded the construction of a hospital.
Established on October 18, 1896, inside the former president's mansion at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, St. Agnes Hospital and Training School for Coloured Nurses played a crucial role in providing healthcare for Black inhabitants at a time when options were scarce.
The initial superintendent was Sarah Hunter, and the first attending doctor was Dr. Lawson A. Scruggs. Soon after the hospital opened, the caring staff welcomed their first patient.
Within six months, they had cared for 51 patients and provided home care for 223 more.
On April 6, 1897, they had their first operation, and on April 21, 1898, the nursing school celebrated the first two graduates.
At the turn of the century, Hubert Royster and Catherine Hayden, two white doctors, assumed leadership.
When the hospital was expanded in 1903 and restored after a fire in 1904, St. Augustine's students did the majority of the construction work.
After the new, more upscale structure was inaugurated in June 1909, Rex Hospital ceased to serve Black patients.
St. Agnes played a vital role in teaching doctors and nurses despite having a heavy charity patient load and financial difficulties.
It was accredited by prestigious medical organizations, and its nursing program upheld high standards.
Unfortunately, the hospital was forced to close on April 27, 1961, when Wake Memorial Hospital first opened, as a result of growing financial difficulties and deteriorating infrastructure.
St. Agnes Hospital and Training School for Coloured Nurses provided treatment and hope to Raleigh's Black community for the duration of its operation, leaving a legacy of commitment and tenacity in the face of hardship.
After St. Agnes Hospital closed, St. Augustine's College purchased eight acres of property and four buildings.
In 1979, the primary facility was designated as a Wake Opportunity Senior Citizens Programme headquarters and a Raleigh Historic Landmark.
It operated as campus storage and St. Augustine's security section in 1991.
Due to interior damage, a repair project to convert the building into offices and exhibition space was postponed.
Steel beams were installed to stabilize the stone façade, and funds were set aside in 2022 for a feasibility study to assess if the site could be maintained or renovated.
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