Wheatley-Provident Hospital

Wheatley-Provident Hospital
Southeast side and front door
LocationKansas City, Missouri
Coordinates39°05′26″N 94°34′10″W / 39.090596°N 94.569492°W / 39.090596; -94.569492
Elevation817 ft[1]
Built1903; 121 years ago (1903)
Original useSt. Joseph's Parochial School
RebuiltJune 1, 1918; 106 years ago (1918-06-01)
Restored by1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC
Current useHistorical restoration
Owner1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC
Websitewheatleyprovident.com
Northeast side, under rehabilitation, in August 2020
Etching above the east-facing front door
North face, with the rooftop "ASYLUM" sign remnant from having been a Halloween haunted house attraction in the 1980s-1990s
Old newspaper photo of a limestone-clad building with the caption "This is the beautiful home we are trying to purchase for the Wheatley-Provident Hospital and it requires $25,000 to do it. Will you do your bit to make it possible?"
Fundraiser photo, 1917[2]

Wheatley-Provident Hospital is a historic site at 1826 Forest Avenue in the 18th and Vine District of Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1902 and became Kansas City's first hospital for Black people.

History

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The hospital's precursor institution was a small hospital and training school for nurses founded in 1902 by Dr. John Edward Perry.[3] In 1910, it was located at 1214 Vine, named Perry Sanitarium and Nurse Training Association.[4]

On June 1, 1918, after an extensive fundraiser campaign yielding US$25,000 (equivalent to about $506,000 in 2023), the facility was relocated to an existing building at 1826 Forest Avenue. Having been built in 1903 as St. Joseph's Parochial School, that building was renamed Wheatley-Provident Hospital and repurposed as Kansas City's first hospital for Black people. It was led by Dr. Perry and his wife Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry, who was the daughter of Rosetta Douglass and granddaughter of Frederick Douglass.[5]

A children's wing was added in 1925. By 1971, 50,000 patients had been served, and the hospital was closed 1972.[4]

It entered the Kansas City Register of Historic Places in 2007[5] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 2020.[6][7] The property became owned by an absentee landlord, and was declared a hazardous building and threatened with demolition by 2017. The historic building was saved from destruction and rehabilitation began in 2021.[8] The owner is 1826 Forest Re Holdings LLC, which is rehabilitating the property into office space, preferably for tenants in the medical field for consistency with its heritage.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kansas City topographic map, elevation, relief". topographic-map.com.
  2. ^ "The New Wheatley Provident Hospital". Kansas City Sun. Kansas City, Missouri. December 15, 1917. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "Our History". 1826 Forest, Kansas City, Missouri. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "First Black Hospital In Kansas City Is Now On Life Support". KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. Local news, entertainment and podcasts. August 7, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "KCMO Historic Register". City of Kansas City, MO. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  6. ^ "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
  7. ^ Gerber, Cameron (July 17, 2020). "First Black-owned hospital in Kansas City nominated for National Register of Historic Places". The Missouri Times. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  8. ^ "Multiple steps bring KC's first Black-owned hospital closer to preservation, redevelopment". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
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