Waverly in Columbia in Richland County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Cyril O. Spann Medical Office
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, November 27, 2019
1. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office Marker
side 1
A local civil rights leader, Spann helped desegregate public accommodations and once performed life-saving surgery on a student stabbed during a sit-in. While Spann saw patients at this office, he conducted surgery at Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, where he worked as early as 1957 and later served as chief of staff. After Spann's death, other black doctors continued practicing at his office into the 1990's.
Erected 2019 by Tnovsa Global Commons and the Richland County Conservation Commission. (Marker Number 40 211.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Architecture • Civil Rights • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1963.
Location. 34° 0.635′ N, 81° 1.088′ W. Marker is in Columbia, South Carolina, in Richland County. It is in Waverly.
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Visanska-Starks House (within shouting distance of this marker); Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital (within shouting distance of this marker); Matthew J. Perry House (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); First Calvary Baptist Church (about 500 feet away); Black Churches Are Still Burning (about 700 feet away); Waverly (approx. 0.2 miles away); Allen University (approx. 0.2 miles away); St. Luke's Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Columbia.
Regarding Cyril O. Spann Medical Office. The building served as the office of Dr. Spann from 1963 until his death in 1979 and represents the history of segregated medical facilities in Columbia until the opening of the integrated Richland County Memorial Hospital in 1972.
It is in Columbia’s Historic Waverly neighborhood, a City of Columbia Protection Area and one of the few African American residential districts in South Carolina that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Dr. Spann, a native of Chester, SC and graduate of Benedict College and Meharry Medical College, was a Black physician
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, November 27, 2019
2. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office Marker
side 2
Unlike the segregated hospital wings and waiting rooms that typically greeted Black patients seeking care, Dr. Spann’s office provided a doctor’s office created by and for African Americans. Through additional rigorous study and practice at Meharry, Dr. Spann became one of the first fully trained Black surgeons in South Carolina during the 1960s and early 1970s. At the time of his practice, he was the only Black surgeon in the state. As a result, Dr. Spann traveled to Kingstree, Sumter, Union, Greenville, Charleston, and other areas across the state to provide his much-needed surgical expertise to Black patients. He was Staff Surgeon at Benevolent Society Hospital at Kingstree; and a Visiting Surgeon at Community Hospitals in Sumter and Union.
Spann also acted alongside other civil rights leaders to desegregate downtown Columbia businesses, and to support the 187 student protesters arrested for demonstrating at the South Carolina State House, which led to a US Supreme Court ruling in their favor in Edwards v. South Carolina (1963).
The Dr. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office was operated exclusively by African-American physicians from
Photographed By C.F. Bruce
3. Cyril O. Spann Medical Office
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2019. This historic marker was unveiled on November 19, 2019 and has created a unique space with three historic markers in a row for related buildings: The Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital, where Dr. Spann served as chief of staff; the Visanska Starks House, where nurses who served Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital lived, and the Spann Medical Office itself. Tnovsa Global Commons plans to restore the building and open it by 2021.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . . Oral History Interviews, Black Medical History Project - Dr. Cyril O. Spann Sr. (video). This oral history project, funded by Richland County Conservation Commission and Richland County, documents the impact of Dr. Spann on health care during the transition from segregated to desegregated health services for Blacks in the Midlands and in South Carolina. Interview subjects include Cyril O. Spann Jr., MD; Burnett W. Gallman, MD; Gerald Wilson, MD; Everett
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, circa 1965
4. Cyril O. Spann SR, MD
Source: South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, March 22,
5. Physicians who practiced in the Spann Medical Office
Left to right: Gerald Wilson, MD; Jean Hopkins, RN; Rodney Reid, MD and his father, Albert Reid, MD (seated); Burnett W. Gallman, MD and Everett L. Dargan, MD.
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, 1965
6. Cyril O. Spann SR, MD with Good Samaritan Waverly Hospital Staff
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, March 1963
7. Cyril O. Spann SR, MD with Edwards v. South Carolina team
Student protesters vindicated after winning the Edwards v.South Carolina case. Before them stand attorney Lincoln C. Jenkins, Attorney Matthew J. Perry, Cyril O Spann Sr., MD and NAACP leader I.DeQuincey Newman.
The 187 petitioners consisted of African-American high school and college students who assembled at the Zion Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina on March 2, 1961 and marched to the South Carolina State House grounds to express their grievances regarding civil rights of African-Americans.
The students failed to disperse when ordered to do so and were arrested. Dr. Spann raised money to insure that the bail was paid. The student protesters were convicted of the common law crime of breach of the peace.
The case went to the US Supreme Court, which held that in South Carolina infringed on the petitioners’ rights of free speech, free assembly and freedom to petition for a redress of grievances, rights guaranteed by the First Amendment and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, April 1, 2019
8. Stuart A. Hamilton, MD
Dr. Hamilton was another physician who worked in the Spann Medical Office. The office served as the 'birthplace' for the Eau Claire Community Health Centers, founded by Dr. Hamilton, which are now in four counties and in one country outside of the United States.
Photographed By Alan Hefter, son of Vera McBryde, MD, circa February 1, 2010
9. Vera McBryde, MD
Dr. McBryde, who died in 2012, the only woman physician who worked in the Spann building. A native of Dillon County in South Carolina, she was a Meharry graduate, practicing at this office in Columbia, in Nashville, TN, and did research and teaching at the University of Chicago.
Photographed By C.F. Bruce, March 28, 2023
10. Tree of Peace and Resistance
The Tree of Peace and Resistance, planted during the Dr. Spann Historical marker unveiling, was dedicated by Rabbis of the Tree of Life and Beth Shalom synagogues in Columbia and Dr. Anthony Thompson, Jr., stepson of Myra Thompson, who died at the Mother Emanuel AME slayings, to honor mutual efforts toward peace, public health and anti-violence.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 24, 2019, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,230 times since then and 114 times this year. Last updated on March 29, 2023, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. Photos: 1. submitted on November 24, 2019, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. 2. submitted on November 27, 2019, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on November 24, 2019, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. 8, 9. submitted on November 27, 2019, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. 10. submitted on March 29, 2023, by C.F. Bruce of Columbia, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
