Story Experience
“Here at Houston Negro Hospital, our beginning is humble, but through hard work will bear fruit for our race.” In his address as the hospital’s new Executive Director in 1947, Dr. J. Edward Perry expressed the hopes of Houston’s African-American physicians.
This exhibit, To Bear Fruit for Our Race, explores the history of these physicians. With the persistence of Jim Crow laws and other discriminatory practices through much of the twentieth century, these medical pioneers faced obstacles but also found opportunities to improve the lives of their families, their patients, and their community. Their history is intertwined with the growth of Houston, dramatic changes in the practice of medicine, and a nation’s long–awaited fulfillment of its promise of equality and freedom for all. The exhibit shares many stories, including those of: