Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Enhancing Health Care
— Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site —
Photographed By Mark Hilton, March 11, 2017
1. Enhancing Health Care Marker
Let our societies spend less money in taking care of the sick, and much more money in promoting the health of the race . . . . Let us make health contagious in every community rather than disease. —Booker T. Washington, Address before National Negro Business LeagueThe National Center for Bioethics, in the Andrew Building across the road, pursues one of the school's longtime interests: enhancing health care. The Center studies ethical issues affecting the health of people of color—such as the U.S. Public Health Service's failure to treat 399 blacks infected with syphilis here in the 1930s.
For many years the building housed the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital, which cared for the institute's students and the black residents of Macon County, Alabama. The hospital also served as a training center for African American doctors and dentists and a research and treatment facility for polio and other diseases.
[Photo captions]
{Bottom right}: A nurse traveled with the institute's agricultural agents to provide medical care to rural residents.
{Main photo}: The
this page online
Erected by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education • Science & Medicine. In addition, it is included in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1912.
Location. 32° 25.96′ N, 85° 42.28′ W. Marker is in Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, in Macon County. Marker is at the intersection of Booker T. Washington Boulevard and Benjamin F Payton Drive on Booker T. Washington Boulevard. Marker located within the Tuskegee University Campus. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Booker T Washington Boulevard, Tuskegee Institute AL 36088, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. George Washington Carver (approx. 0.2 miles away); Frederick Douglass Hall (approx. 0.2 miles away); Tuskegee Cemetery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Huntington Hall (approx. 0.2 miles away); Campus Architect (approx. 0.2 miles away); Tuskegee Chapel (approx. 0.2 miles away); White Hall
Photographed By Mark Hilton, March 11, 2017
2. National Center for Bioethics in Research & Health Care (Andrew Building) in background.
Regarding Enhancing Health Care. The former John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital was dedicated in 1913 and was the result of a gift of the wife of Charles Mason of Boston, a Tuskegee University (then Tuskegee Institute) trustee. The building was named in memory of her grandfather, Gov. John A. Andrew of Massachusetts.
Tuskegee University is a private, historically Black university established in 1881. The campus has been designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark. Tuskegee University's campus is the only school in the United States to hold this distinction.
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker.
Internet Archive
3. John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital, Tuskegee Institute
from A Boys' Life of Booker T. Washington, by Walter Clinton Jackson, 1922.
Internet Archive
4. John A. Andrew, War-Governor of Massachusetts
from Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 2, Robert Underwood Johnson & Clarence Clough Buel, 1887.
Photographed By Mark Hilton, March 11, 2017
5. View of marker and intersection of Booker T. Washington Boulevard & Payton Drive.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 28, 2019. It was originally submitted on March 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 331 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. 3, 4. submitted on June 27, 2019, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 5. submitted on March 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
