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Leonard Hall (Shaw University)
Encyclopedia
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 (then Leonard Medical School), Leonard Hall was established when medical schools were professionalizing. It was the first medical school
for African-Americans in the United States
to offer a four-year curriculum
, as well as the first four-year medical school in North Carolina.
The building was named after Judson Wade Leonard, the brother-in-law of Shaw's founder Henry Martin Tupper
. Classes began in 1882 and the annual tuition
was $60, a substantial sum at the time. It is a contributing part of the East Raleigh-South Park Historic District
, listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1990. In 1994 it was designated a North Carolina Historic Landmark.
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. 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. 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 bastion
s of education for our people. We are very proud of it."
The university was founded by American Baptists
in 1865 to educate freedmen
following the Civil War
. 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.
Leonard Hall held classrooms. A 34-bed medical dormitory
and a 25-bed hospital were constructed next to it, the latter in 1910. The medical school complex was used to train Christian
physician
s serving African Americans. Prominent faculty members at the medical school included Kemp B. Battle, Jr., son of President Kemp P. Battle
of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
; and Wisconsin I. Royster, great-uncle of Wall Street Journal editor Vermont C. Royster.
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. During its 36-year history, the school graduated nearly 400 physicians, most of whom provided critical services to underserved populations throughout the South. 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. In 2006 the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker
Program installed a plaque to mark the location of Leonard Hall.
brick building is of the Romanesque Revival
style. The two corner towers feature arched bay windows and a rear addition with a matching corbel
led cornice
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. To save on construction costs, Shaw students made the bricks for the building.
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.
J.T. Williams practiced medicine at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Charlotte
and was twice elected to the Board of Aldermen. Williams was appointed an ambassador
to Sierra Leone
by President William McKinley
, serving from 1898 to 1907. J.T. Williams Middle School in Charlotte is named after him.
Class valedictorian
Lawson Andrew Scruggs founded the Old North State Medical Society, the nation's oldest association of black physicians. He also founded a tuberculosis
sanatorium
in Southern Pines
that treated many people from Raleigh.
Aaron McDuffie Moore, graduate of the 1888 class, became the first African-American physician in Durham
. He co-founded the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Company, the largest and oldest black-owned business in the United States. Moore convinced philanthropist
Washington Duke
to build a hospital instead of a monument as a better way to honor black troops who fought for the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
building located on the campus of Shaw University
Shaw University
Shaw University, founded as Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States....
in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Built in 1881 and originally named Leonard Medical Center (then Leonard Medical School), Leonard Hall was established when medical schools were professionalizing. It was the first medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
for African-Americans in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to offer a four-year curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
, as well as the first four-year medical school in North Carolina.
The building was named after Judson Wade Leonard, the brother-in-law of Shaw's founder Henry Martin Tupper
Henry Martin Tupper
Henry Martin Tupper D.D. was a Baptist minister who founded Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the first university established for African Americans following the end of the civil war, and the oldest historically black college and university in the Southern United States, as well as one...
. Classes began in 1882 and the annual tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
was $60, a substantial sum at the time. It is a contributing part of the East Raleigh-South Park Historic District
East Raleigh-South Park Historic District
The East Raleigh-South Park Historic District is the largest African-American neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. The district, located south and east of downtown Raleigh, covers approximately 30 blocks and contains portions of the Smith-Haywood and St. Petersburg neighborhoods...
, listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1990. In 1994 it was designated a North Carolina Historic Landmark.
Shaw University is the oldest historically black college
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and often called the "mother of African-American colleges in North Carolina", because its alumni founded other colleges. 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. Describing the history of the building, then-President Talbert O. Shaw said, "For Shaw University and the black community
African American history
African-American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865...
, it stands out as one of the bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s of education for our people. We are very proud of it."
History
American Baptist Churches USA
The American Baptist Churches USA is a Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its...
in 1865 to educate freedmen
Freedman
A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
following the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Donations from people such as Judson Wade Leonard and Jacob Estey
Jacob Estey
Jacob Estey was the founder of Estey Organ.-Biography:He was born in 1814 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire and ran away from an orphanage to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he learned the plumbing trade. He arrived in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1835 at age 21 to work in a plumbing shop which he soon bought...
assisted in developing the college's growing campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
. Estey donated money for construction of Estey Hall
Estey Hall
Estey Hall is a historic building on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the first building constructed for the higher education of African-American women in the United States...
, first in the nation built for the education of African-American women.
Leonard Hall held classrooms. A 34-bed medical dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
and a 25-bed hospital were constructed next to it, the latter in 1910. The medical school complex was used to train Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s serving African Americans. Prominent faculty members at the medical school included Kemp B. Battle, Jr., son of President Kemp P. Battle
Kemp P. Battle
Kemp Plummer Battle served as North Carolina State Treasurer and as president of the University of North Carolina in the nineteenth century.Battle graduated from the University in 1849 as the valedictorian of his class...
of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
; and Wisconsin I. Royster, great-uncle of Wall Street Journal editor Vermont C. Royster.
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
Flexner Report
The Flexner Report is a book-length study of medical education in the United States and Canada, written by the professional educator Abraham Flexner and published in 1910 under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation...
for curriculum, research and medical equipment. During its 36-year history, the school graduated nearly 400 physicians, most of whom provided critical services to underserved populations throughout the South. 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
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
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. In 2006 the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker
Historical marker
A historical marker or historic marker is an indicator such as a plaque or sign to commemorate an event or person of historic interest and to associate that point of interest with a specific locale one can visit.-Description:...
Program installed a plaque to mark the location of Leonard Hall.
Architecture
The twin-turretedTurret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
brick building is of the Romanesque Revival
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style. The two corner towers feature arched bay windows and a rear addition with a matching corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
was later added to the building. The architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
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. To save on construction costs, Shaw students made the bricks for the building.
Alumni
Pope House Museum
The Pope House Museum, built in 1901, is a restored home once owned by Dr. M.T. Pope, a prominent African-American citizen of Raleigh, North Carolina...
became a prominent physician in Raleigh and was also involved in local politics of the capital. During the time of racial segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
imposed disfranchisement
Disfranchisement
Disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person's vote less effective, or ineffective...
, 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
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Raleigh in 1919 on a non-partisan ticket with Calvin E. Lightner. His home is now a registered landmark
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and museum.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
and was twice elected to the Board of Aldermen. Williams was appointed an ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
by President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
, serving from 1898 to 1907. J.T. Williams Middle School in Charlotte is named after him.
Class valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
Lawson Andrew Scruggs founded the Old North State Medical Society, the nation's oldest association of black physicians. He also founded a tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in Southern Pines
Southern Pines, North Carolina
Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 10,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Southern Pines is located at ....
that treated many people from Raleigh.
Aaron McDuffie Moore, graduate of the 1888 class, became the first African-American physician in Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. He co-founded the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Mutual insurance
A mutual insurance company is an insurance company which has no shareholders but instead is owned entirely by its policyholders. The primary form of financial business set up as a mutual company in the United States has been mutual insurance. Under this idea, what would have been profits are...
Company, the largest and oldest black-owned business in the United States. Moore convinced philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Washington Duke
Washington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
to build a hospital instead of a monument as a better way to honor black troops who fought for the Confederate Army during the Civil War.