In 1973, the Student Health Coalition (SHC) expanded its summer activities beyond Appalachia to include Fayette County in west Tennessee. The next year, it added Lee County in southwest Virginia. A predominance of the people in both counties were African American. What they shared in common with the populations served by the SHC in Appalachia was poverty. But race imposed additional obstacles to the delivery of health care – and to the ability of African Americans in these rural communities to access other services and economic opportunities. Past and present struggles to overcome such inequities infuse the reflections collected here.
Charles Scott and John Kennedy ruminate on the racism intrinsic to the SHC’s work in Appalachia
Charles Scott and John Kennedy discuss the racism intrinsic to the Student Health Coalition’s work, particularly in Morgan County, Tenn. Scott underlines the importance of (1) recognizing and (2) remembering the power they (as majority White students) had in these… Continued
Sharon Roberson on institutional racism and her invitation to Chancellor Heard’s home
Sharon Roberson shares what she’s most proud of from her time in West Tennessee, explaining how it cultivated greater depth to her critical understanding of institutional racism and the ensuing drive to educate others on the matter. Full footage… Continued
On Sharon Roberson’s mother, Lady Kendall
Sharon Roberson shares a story exemplifying her mother’s legacy of kindness and advocacy, highlighting the power of leaders to change institutions. Full footage of Sharon Roberson’s 2018 oral history interview. Continued
Sharon Roberson on systemic racism: then and now
Sharon Roberson reflects on her witness and personal experience of racism together with our ongoing culture of racism today, highlights the widespread mistrust of Medicaid expansion and Obamacare common among many people (largely due to politically-driven misinformation and propaganda), and… Continued
Differences between West and East TN core injustices and approach to community organizing
Sharon Roberson describes community organizing work over time and the growing tension that transpired among Vanderbilt students from one summer to the next, particularly in light of apartheid in South Africa and the ongoing domestic fight for civil rights. Many… Continued
Appealing to community leaders, the health fair model, and rights and benefits counseling in West TN
Sharon Roberson describes the student-led approach to community organizing in West Tennessee, such as appealing to established community leaders (namely, ministers from local churches). She also details the health fair model and rights and benefits counseling, both of which were… Continued
Sharon Roberson on Black deference to White people in West Tennessee
Sharon Roberson describes an air conditioning situation in the Haywood County Public Health Services building which, to her surprise, highlighted how Black people, according to custom and engrained mentality, demonstrated deference to the White demographic. Full footage of Sharon… Continued
Sharon Roberson’s early involvement with the Center for Health Services
Sharon Roberson tells of her first getting involved with the Center for Health Services, a Vanderbilt-sponsored affiliate program of the Student Health Coalition. She worked in West Tennessee (primarily Haywood County) and explains that unique to this region, in comparison… Continued
Grant proposal process for the Douglas Community Health Center
Jean Carney details the convoluted grant proposal and approval process for establishing the Douglas Community Health Center, and the lengths to which she and others had to go to make it happen. Despite the several setbacks, she persisted and the… Continued
Origins of the Douglas Community Health Center’s Board of Directors
Jean Carney recounts the story of how the Board of Directors for the Douglas Community Health Center in Stanton, Tenn. first came to be, as well as the role Irwin Venick‘s feasibility study played in determining the community’s need for… Continued
Inadequacies of healthcare system in Stanton, Tenn.
Jean Carney discusses the several, primarily race-related inadequacies of the healthcare system in Stanton, Tenn. prior to the 1977 establishment of the Douglas Community Health Center. Full footage of Jean Carney’s tour and narrative of the Douglas Community Health… Continued
Minnie Bommer’s encounter with hospital segregation
Having overcome the adversity of racially biased employment discrimination imposed upon her at the outset of her nursing career, Minnie Bommer shares also about the realities of healthcare inequities and segregation experienced post-hire at a hospital in Covington, Tenn. Recorded… Continued
Minnie Bommer on racially charged employment discrimination and her journey to nursing career
Minnie Bommer shares her tumultuous experience at the outset of her nursing career, detailing the extent of racially biased obstacles intended to bar her from hire at hospitals in Tipton County, Tenn. Recorded on June 1, 2018. Full footage… Continued
Square Morman’s sons on 1960s civil unrest and Tent City
Dana Ellis, a nurse and co-director of the West Tennessee Student Health Coalition, asks two of Square Morman’s sons what it was like in the early 1960s — from racial tensions to the development of “Tent City.” Recorded on June… Continued
Negro League’s Josh Gibson in contrast to MLB’s first black ballplayer Jackie Robinson
Ron Carson explains why he considers Josh Gibson of the Negro League’s Homestead Grays to have been the best Black ball player ever, and how racist behavioral expectations contributed to Jackie Robinson’s acceptance in MLB. Full footage of Ron… Continued
First integrated band in St. Charles, VA: Smith Carson and the Black and White Melody Boys
Ron Carson shares about his grandfather’s, Smith Carson, first integrated band in the area: the Black and White Melody Boys. Their legacy throughout the South includes having played with Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley. Full footage of Ron Carson’s… Continued
The renaming of “Negro Head Rock”
Ron Carson showcases an old check with an emblem of what used to be called “Negro Head Rock” and shares the story about his grandmother’s 1968 petition to have it renamed. It’s now known as Stoneface Rock. Interestingly, former Student… Continued
Post-Reconstruction African American migration and the St. Charles coal camps
Ron Carson details post-Reconstruction African American migration trends from cotton fields to coal camps in St. Charles, Va. (including migration years later in the mid-20th century to northern urban centers for manufacturing jobs) and their impact on resulting Black diaspora… Continued
History of Rosenwald School in Pennington Gap, VA, 1930s-1960s
Ron Carson discusses the history of the Rosenwald School (or Pennington Gap Colored School, now the site of the African American Cultural Center) between the 1930s and 1960s, showcasing various school records and sharing stories about its day-to-day operations. More… Continued
Dr. Daniel Gabriel’s legacy in St. Charles, VA
Ron Carson discusses Dr. Daniel Gabriel, M.D. and his local legacy in African American healthcare as the only doctor who in the 1940s and 50s would see Black patients. Full footage of Ron Carson’s tour of the African American… Continued
Pushback against Douglas Community Health Center
Jean Carney shares how rhetoric against the Black-run Douglas Community Health Center manifested as several false accusations and presented various legal challenges to both the clinic and associated nurse practitioners. Full footage of Jean Carney at the old Douglas… Continued
Behind the scenes at Douglas Community Health Center
Jean Carney reminisces the early days of Douglas Community Health Center in Stanton, Tenn. Following a brief overview of the clinic’s architectural layout and functional operations, she delves into the impact of race relations on healthcare at the time. … Continued
Meryl Rice on Byron De La Beckwith’s assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers
Meryl Rice recalls her family’s business encounters with Byron De La Beckwith (prior to his murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers) and speaks to their horror at learning what he’d committed. Recorded on June 2, 2018. Full footage… Continued
Rev. Anderson on the origins and operation of Tent City
Rev. Anderson discusses the foundation of Tent City in Fayette County, Tenn. and other community responses to the civil rights violations imposed on Black sharecroppers registered to vote. He links one of the leading incentives behind registration to Black representation… Continued
Jean Carney on the motivation to build the Stanton, Tenn. health clinic
Jean Carney discusses how segregation created healthcare disparities in her community and provides a historical account of the health clinic in Stanton, Tenn. Recorded October of 2017. Continued