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Provident Hospital was the first Black-owned and operated hospital in the United States, founded by pioneering Black surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. The facility was opened on May 4, 1891 with the combined support of religious, community and business leaders in Chicago and was also the first racially integrated hospital.

According to Provident Hospital’s history and other accounts, in 1889, Emma Reynolds was a young Black woman who aspired to be a nurse. However, schools wouldn’t admit her in Chicago due to her race. Her brother, Rev. Louis Reynolds, was the pastor of an A.M.E. church and approached Williams for assistance. Williams used his resources to try and gain admission for Ms. Reynolds but to no avail.

The following year, Williams joined with city leaders and businessmen in discussing strategies to open a hospital combined with a nurse training facility. Reaching out to prominent Black and white individuals in the city, Williams and the collective were able to secure enough funding to buy a three-story brick building at 29th and Dearborn. This building became the Provident Hospital and Training School.

The hospital primarily served the needs of Black patients, but it also provided many Black health professionals with their first opportunties in the field. But with just 12 beds at the facility, the hospital was soon overwhelmed. In 1898, Provident was moved to a larger building on 36th Street that featured 65 beds.

The hospital merged with the University of Chicago in an educational agreement in 1933 which moved it once more to E. 51st Street. The seven-story building expanded Provident’s operations exponentially and the university also established a fund for teaching and research at the hospital. There were also dorm rooms built off-site for nursing students.

In the ’40’s and ’80’s, Provident suffered two huge financial setbacks. The debt it amassed over the years became too great and it shuttered its doors in 1987. It was reopened in 1993 as part of the Cook County hospital network. The hospital remains at its final location and is no longer considered a Black-run hospital.

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The Ten Most Interesting Little Known Black History Facts
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