The Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital - Tuskegee, AL
Posted by: 
hoteltwo
N 32° 26.508 W 085° 42.648
16S E 621188 N 3590139
Marker is located on Hospital Drive, before the entrance at the VA Medical Center-Tuskegee. Describes how WWI African American veterans had difficulty getting medical care and the establishment of this hospital campus.
Waymark Code: WMV831
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 03/12/2017
Views: 3
Marker Text:
The Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital (VA), established in 1923, is significant as the first VA hospital in the nation to be administered by an all African American medical staff.
After WWI, African American veterans found it difficult to secure proper treatment in segregated hospitals, especially in the South. Despite violent threats, the second Tuskegee University president, Robert R. Moton; John Andrew Hospital director, John Kenney; African American media; and others convinced the Veterans Bureau to approve an African American staffed hospital. President Calvin Coolidge ordered it.
The Tuskegee VA Hospital held rank with the four leading Veterans Bureau hospitals. By 1930, there were 52 permanent buildings and 97 professional staff providing treatment in all branches of medicine/surgery and ancillary services such as clinical laboratories, roentgenology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics and a medical library.
The Tuskegee VA continued to be staffed by African Americans until full integration at veteran hospitals. It was listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on April 14, 1992.
Marker Name: The Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
Erected by the Alabama Historical Commission.
Due to government guidelines and patient privacy laws, NO photography or videography is allowed within the confines of the VA Medical Center-Tuskegee campus. Visitors must notify security if you continue onto the entrance gate.
Date Dedicated / Placed: Unknown
Marker Number: N/A
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Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.