Month: October 2024

A PRESCRIPTION FOR CHANGE

/ Bonnie Newman Davis

How Black voices shaped healthcare in Virginia

Visitors discuss the contributions of Blacks in the medical professions recently at the Black
History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. Photos by Bonnie Newman Davis.

A landmark exhibition that chronicles Virginia’s Black hospitals, medical educators, physicians, pharmacists and professional organizations opened Sept. 18, 2024 at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.

“A Prescription for Change: How Black Voices Shaped Healthcare in Virginia,” was created and curated by Elvatrice Parker Belsches, B.A., B.S. Pharm, M.A., and features powerful vintage photographs, with accompanying text, of 1919 graduates of the Dixie Hospital Training School for Nurses at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). Also part of the exhibit is a 1915 group photograph that includes members of the Tri-State Dental Society Conference and founding members of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, a national nursing organization, which had a chapter in Richmond.

The exhibition also showcases rare photos of hospitals created by Black professionals and individuals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Of notable significance are rare artifacts such as the scales and weights used by Dr. David A. Ferguson, D.D.S., the founding father of the National Dental Association and two dental instruments that reportedly belonged to Dr. Peter B. Ramsey, who began practicing dentistry in the 1880s. There are medical instruments and cabinets from The Claytor Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia. This clinic is believed to be the first multi-specialty clinic in Southwest Virginia that was founded and staffed by Black medical practitioners when it opened in 1948.

Elvatrice Belsches, middle, points to highlights of the exhibit, “A Prescription for Change: How Black Voices Shaped Healthcare in Virginia,” that currently is on view through March 15, 2025 at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Richmond, Va. Ms. Belsches, a public historian, is the exhibit’s creator and curator.)

The exhibition is divided into eight sections:

*The Early Years

*Education

*Physicians, Optometrists and Chiropractors

*Dentists

*Pharmacy

*Nurses, Midwifery and Doulas

*The Black Hospital Movement

*Organizations

Included in the exhibit are works by 14 artists, exploring physical, emotional, psychological, and historical aspects of healthcare disparities faced by Black patients. Participating artists include P. Muzi Branch, S. Ross Browne, Unicia Buster, Kyle Epps, A. Yhayha Hargrove, Barbara Hobson, William E. Johnson, Jowarnise, David Marion, Amiri Richardson Keys, Jay Sharp, Jeff Taylor, Sir James Thornhill, Dennis Winston, and Vashti Woods. Each artist brings a unique perspective to this critical dialogue, creating a multifaceted narrative that challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths and envision a more equitable future in healthcare.

Where: The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, 122 W. Leigh St., Richmond, Virginia 23219. The exhibit continues through March 15, 2025.

Meet the exhibit creator, curator and historian

Walk A Mile In Their Shoes Heritage Walk-a-Thon

/ Bonnie Newman Davis

SAVE THE DATE: Nov. 2, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm., Cumberland, Va.

Tuskegee Rosenwald Pine Grove School. Photo Courtesy AMMD Pine Grove Project.
Dr. Booker T. Washington. Photo Courtesy AMMD Pine Grove Project.
Former students, Tuskegee Rosenwald Pine Grove School. Photo Courtesy AMMD Pine Grove Project.

The AMMD Pine Grove Project will celebrate the completion of the NPS African American Civil Rights grant-funded stabilization construction work at the historic Tuskegee Rosenwald Pine Grove School, 267 Pinegrove Rd, Cumberland, Va 23040 with a Walk A Mile In Their Shoes Heritage Walk-a-Thon and Schoolyard Jamboree. The celebration will take place at the historic site on Saturday, November 2, 2024, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.

 Attendees will relive history by walking the same route as many of the students who attended Pine Grove, through storytelling by Pine Grove alumni, and reenactments of schoolyard games, and of a typical day at Pine Grove School. Over 100 years ago, philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and founding president of Tuskegee Institute, Dr. Booker T. Washington met to address the lack of schools to educate Black children in the segregated South.

From this collaboration, the Rosenwald Fund and the Rural Community Schools building program were formed, and over 5000 schools were built in Black communities from 1913-1934. Pine Grove School, built in 1917, afforded generations of Black students living in the Pine Grove community a quality education from 1917 to 1964.

The AMMD (Agee, Miller, Mayo, Dungy) Pine Grove Project is collaborating with community members and partners to preserve this significant historic resource in Cumberland County. The AMMD Pine Grove Project is a 501c3 tax exempt grassroots organization that continues to support the educational legacy of its founders and preserves the cultural heritage of the school and community. For information, contact: Sonja Branch-Wilson and Cheryl Belt-Jackson.

For more details, please visit: http://www.ammdpinegroveproject.com/

Kitchen Talk 5 salutes ‘Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine’

/ Bonnie Newman Davis

Welcome to Wine Down with Kitchen Talk 5! Get ready for a night of delicious food, great wine and engaging conversations as we pay homage to the classic 1978 cookbook “Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine,” by Norma Jean and Carol Darden. Genealogist, historian and cookbook collector Bessida Cauthorne White will join us! A professional photographer will capture the evening and, as a special holiday gift, guests will receive a commemorative photo album! Register here!