Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Hale Infirmary / The Lynching of Willie Temple
Photographed By Mark Hilton, October 15, 2023
1. Hale Infirmary Marker
Inscription.
Hale Infirmary, also, The Lynching of Willie Temple. .
Hale Infirmary. On this site for nearly seven decades stood Hale Infirmary. It was among 25 hospitals in Alabama, and the first in Montgomery, established during the Black Hospital Movement, an effort to overcome healthcare inequities for African American patients. Until the Civil Rights Movement, most American hospitals did not employ Black nurses or doctors and provided services, if at all, in segregated, substandard wards. , Hale's founder was Cornelius Nathaniel Dorsette, M.D., (1852? - 1897), graduate of Hampton Institute and the University of Buffalo medical school. Dr. Dorsette came to Montgomery in 1883 at the urging of Booker T. Washington and was among the first Black physicians licensed in Alabama. For a time, he was Washington's personal physician. Dr. Dorsette also owned a pharmacy and a Dexter Avenue office building., Dr. Dorsette opened Hale Infirmary in 1890, on land donated by his father-in-law James Hale. A white women's social club helped raise funds to build the two-story structure. It included sixty hospital beds, an isolation ward, and operating room. Black physician Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson, who in 1891 became the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Alabama, was tutored here by Dr. Dorsette. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech to raise funds for the facility. Hale Infirmary closed in 1958. ,
The Lynching of Willie Temple September 30, 1919. Born in 1894, Willie Temple was the eldest of four children of Montgomery County farmers Lewis and Ella (Shorter) Temple. He worked as a dining car cook for the L&N Railroad. On the night of September 29, 1919, Temple and a friend were returning from a social event when they were approached by a third person and an altercation ensued. Montgomery patrolman J. J. Barbaree encountered the three and attempted to arrest them. Amidst the fray, Temple and the officer exchanged gunfire. Barbaree died of his wounds soon after. Willie Temple, also wounded, was later arrested at a coworker's home on Cedar Street., Police brought Temple to Hale Infirmary for medical care. In the early hours of September 30, a mob of white assailants entered the infirmary, overpowered the two police officers standing guard, and shot Willie Temple to death., The lynching of Willie Temple came during a lengthy period of racial terror throughout America known as the Red Summer, which included at least sixty documented attacks by white mobs and hundreds of individual, violent acts. Temple's murder occurred one day after the lynching in Montgomery of African Americans Miles Phifer and Robert Croskey, who were taken from police custody while en route to Wetumpka. A grand jury empaneled to investigate the three September lynchings brought no indictments.
Hale Infirmary
On this site for nearly seven decades stood Hale Infirmary. It was
among 25 hospitals in Alabama, and the first in Montgomery, established during the Black Hospital Movement, an effort to overcome
healthcare inequities for African American patients. Until the Civil
Rights Movement, most American hospitals did not employ Black
nurses or doctors and provided services, if at all, in segregated,
substandard wards.
Hale's founder was Cornelius Nathaniel Dorsette, M.D., (1852? -
1897), graduate of Hampton Institute and the University of Buffalo
medical school. Dr. Dorsette came to Montgomery in 1883 at the
urging of Booker T. Washington and was among the first Black physicians licensed in Alabama. For a time, he was Washington's personal
physician. Dr. Dorsette also owned a pharmacy and a Dexter Avenue
office building.
Dr. Dorsette opened Hale Infirmary in 1890, on land donated by
his father-in-law James Hale. A white women's social club helped raise
funds to build the two-story structure. It included sixty hospital beds,
an isolation ward, and operating room. Black physician Halle Tanner
Dillon Johnson, who in 1891 became the first woman licensed to
practice medicine in Alabama, was tutored here by Dr. Dorsette. Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech to raise
Click or scan to see this page online
funds for the facility.
Hale Infirmary closed in 1958.
The Lynching of Willie Temple
September 30, 1919
Born in 1894, Willie Temple was the eldest of four children of
Montgomery County farmers Lewis and Ella (Shorter) Temple. He
worked as a dining car cook for the L&N Railroad. On the night of
September 29, 1919, Temple and a friend were returning from a
social event when they were approached by a third person and an
altercation ensued. Montgomery patrolman J. J. Barbaree encountered the three and attempted to arrest them. Amidst the fray, Temple
and the officer exchanged gunfire. Barbaree died of his wounds soon
after. Willie Temple, also wounded, was later arrested at a coworker's
home on Cedar Street.
Police brought Temple to Hale Infirmary for medical care. In the
early hours of September 30, a mob of white assailants entered the
infirmary, overpowered the two police officers standing guard, and
shot Willie Temple to death.
The lynching of Willie Temple came during a lengthy period
of racial terror throughout America known as the Red Summer,
which included at least sixty documented attacks by white mobs and
hundreds of individual, violent acts. Temple's murder occurred one
day after the lynching in Montgomery of African Americans Miles
Phifer and Robert Croskey, who were taken from police custody
while
Photographed By Mark Hilton, October 15, 2023
2. The Lynching of Willie Temple Marker
en route to Wetumpka. A grand jury empaneled to investigate the three September lynchings brought no indictments.
Location. 32° 22.215′ N, 86° 17.543′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. Marker is on Lake Street west of Hall Street, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Montgomery AL 36104, United States of America. Touch for directions.
2. Negro Shot to Death By Mob. From the Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, September 30, 1919. (Front page 4th column)
Name is listed as James Temple. (Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)
Photographed By Mark Hilton, October 15, 2023
4. Location of the Lynching of Willie Temple.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 10, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 15, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 234 times since then and 153 times this year. Last updated on February 9, 2024, by Gianluca De Fazio of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 15, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
