Leonard Hall is a historic educational building located on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Built in 1881 and originally named Leonard Medical Center, it became known as Leonard Medical School, and then Leonard Hall. It was established when medical schools were professionalizing and was the first medical school in the United States to offer a four-year curriculum.[1][2] It was also the first four-year medical school that African Americans could attend.[3]
Shaw University is the oldest historically black college in the South and often called the "mother of African-American colleges in North Carolina", because its alumni founded other colleges.[5] It is named after Elijah Shaw, an entrepreneur from Massachusetts who contributed financially for the establishment of the school.[6]
On March 31, 1886, it awarded the college's first medical degrees to six men. Leonard Medical Center was one of fourteen medical schools founded in the late 19th century for the education of African-Americans.[4] Describing the history of the building, then-President Talbert O. Shaw said, "For Shaw University and the black community, it stands out as one of the bastions of education for our people. We are very proud of it."[7]
History
In 1865, the university was founded by Rev. Henry Martin Tupper and his wife Sarah Leonard Tupper, American Baptists, to educate freedmen following the Civil War.[8] Donations from people such as Judson Wade Leonard and Jacob Estey assisted in developing the college's growing campus. Estey donated money for construction of Estey Hall, first in the nation built for the education of African-American women.[9][10]
In 1881, Leonard Hall began operating as the first four-year medical school in the country.[6] Leonard Hall, Leonard Medical Center's first building, opened in 1882.[8] It was named after Judson Wade Leonard, Sarah Tupper's brother, who donated money to help construct the school.[8][11]
Leonard Hall served as a medical school until 1918, when financial problems arose from rising costs associated with implementing recommendations of the Flexner Report on Medical Education for curriculum, research, and medical equipment.[12] During its 36-year history, the school graduated nearly 400 physicians, most of whom provided critical services to underserved populations throughout the South.[13] After the medical school closed, Leonard Hall continued to serve as a classroom building until 1986 when a fire destroyed the roof.
In 2000, a $3.6 million grant from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Fund and corporate donations resulted in the building's restoration. The historic facility is now used for classes and administrative offices.[7] In 2006 the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program installed a plaque to mark the location of Leonard Hall.[13]
Architecture
The twin-turreted brick building is of the Romanesque Revival style. The two corner towers feature arched bay windows and a rear addition with a matching corbelledcornice was later added to the building. The architect of Leonard Hall is unknown, but many believe it could be Gaston A. Edwards, a Shaw faculty member and designer in 1910 of the Leonard Hospital.[2] To save on construction costs, Shaw students made the bricks for the building.[4]
Alumni
Nearly every member of the first graduating class of 1886 went on to have a notable career and was deeply involved in civic life. M.T. Pope became a prominent physician in Raleigh and was also involved in local politics of the capital. During the time of racial segregation imposed disfranchisement, Pope was one of only seven African-American men in the city of Raleigh who managed to register to vote. He went on to run for mayor of Raleigh in 1919 on a non-partisan ticket with Calvin E. Lightner. His home is now a registered landmark and museum.
Clinton Caldwell Boone, earned the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1910 at Leonard Hall. He had already spent years in the Congo as a missionary. Upon graduation in 1910 he was posted to the newly developing Republic of Liberia to represent the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention as a medical missionary Liberia. He helped to build a schoolhouse and hospital in the Congo, as well as a school in Liberia. Also became the President of the first church in Liberia, Providence Baptist Church, founded by Lott Carey in 1822.
Dr George Louis Alphonso Pogue Graduated from the medical school at Leonard Hall with a Doctor of Medicine in 1911.[15] In 1912 Pogue moved his family to Bedford Virginia where he opened an integrated pharmacy at 111 S Bridge Street.[16] He served the community in a number of ways and saw patients in his office and home until his death March 6, 1956.
Ward, Thomas J. (2003). Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South. University of Arkansas Press. pp.8–9. ISBN9781610750721. Leonard was the first American medical school, for blacks or whites, to adopt a four-year curriculum....
Woodcock, Noelle. “Dr. George Louis Alfonso Pogue – Pharmacist, Doctor & Civil Rights Activist in Bedford.” Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library, Find G Local, 1 Feb. 2021, www.findglocal.com/US/Bedford/311951041346/Bedford-Museum-%26-Genealogical-Library.