'Katie B.' Hospital alumni reunion set for this weekend
BY FELEC1A PIGGOTT-LONG. PHD.
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The annual Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital
Alumni Reunion will be held Friday through Sunday, July
24-26 at the Hawthorne Inn, 420 High St. in Winston
Salem.
Former doctors, nurses and other employees, former
patients, students, persons who were born there and com
munity supporters are invnea to
this celebration of the hospital
for African-Americans. This
year's theme is "Meet Us at the ,
30th Katie B. Reunion!"
The Kate Bitting Reynolds .
Memorial Hospital was built in
1938. In 1970, Katie Bitting I
Hospital was closed, and a new F
hospital called Reynolds I
Memorial Hospital opened to I
serve African-Americans. It I
ceased to function as a general I
hospital in 1972. '
The hospital housed two
Mack
schools: School of Nursing,
School of Radiologic Technology, training programs for
doctors to acquire medical specialities in medicine, sur
gery, and ob-gyn. There were also two dormitories for
nursing students and x-ray technician students.
"We want everyone to know that this event is to pro
mote the mixing and mingling of the people. We are cel
ebrating what we accomplished as a hospital family," said
Beverly Watson, vice president. "I would not be where I
am today without my education there. Kate Bitting
Hospital has helped us all to be responsible, contributing
citizens in the community."
"We want everyone to know that this event
is to promote the mixing and mingling of
the people. We are celebrating what we
accomplished as a hospital family."
The opening social gathering will begin at 5:30 p.m.
on Friday. It will include registration, "Remembering
Katie B," heavy hors d'oeuvres and an evening of enter
tainment, featuring the Encore Line Dancers. The cost of
this event is $25.
On Saturday, registration will begin at 7:30 a.m.
Afterward, breakfast will be served, followed by a busi
ness meeting at 10 a.m. and a tour of the area surrounding
where the Kate Bitting Hospital once stood. It will include
the official historical marker for the hospital and a marker
for the Nurses' Residence, radiology students and class
rooms. The cost of the breakfast is $25.
The Saturday evening registration will be held from
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. followed by a full-service banquet
and speaker presentation at 4:30 p.m.
The keynote speaker will be Bishop Sir Walter Lee
Mack Jr., pastor of Union Baptist Church. His Bishopship
was conferred upon Mack on July 10 by Bishop Neil C.
Ellis of Global United Fellowship in Jacksonville, Florida
as Bishop of Global Evangelism. Bishop Mack's mother,
Frances Mack, trained and graduated from Kate Bitting
Reynolds Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in 1954.
She served as assistant head nurse for the surgical unit
from 1954 until 1972. The cost of the banquet is $25.
On Sunday, participants are invited to attend the
church of their choice.
Planning committee mem
bers for the reunion include
Chairwoman Jacqueline Noble
Howell,Co-Chairwoman Beverly
Watson, Chaplain Bemie Neal
Anderson, Corresponding
Secretary Josephine B. Hall,
Corresponding Secretary Gloria
Millner and Entertainment
Coordinator George
Cunningham.
For information contact Jacqueline Howell at 919
477-2200 or Beverly Watson at 336-761-1431.
In 1941, a 90-bed addition to the Kate Bitting
Reynolds Memorial Hospital was funded by William Neal
Reynolds, making it the third lafgesi hospital for African
Americans in the United States. Before 1938, most
African-American patients who were ill stayed at home,
and the minority doctors made house calls. Dr. Bruce had
a free-standing surgical ambulatory clinic on New
Walkertown Road
The wife of William N. Reynolds asserted that the hos
pital should also provide avenues for medical training.
The hospital housed two schools: School of Nursing,
School of Radiologic Technology, training programs for
doctors to acquire medical specialities in medicine, sur
gery, and ob-gyn. There were also two dormitories for
nursing students and x-ray technician students.
Prior to 1941, there were no Black hospitals for black
doctors to practice in. The efforts of the black doctors,
William N. Reynolds, a son of Richard J. Reynolds,
founder of the tobacco company by the same name, and
the Duke Endowment, the city was able to secure a hospi
tal for African-Americans.
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