Founding a Black-Owned Hospital; A Legacy of Education; Decades of Nursing
Stories of how hospitals and healthcare have shaped the legacy of Black families.
These accounts have been edited for clarity.
In the small town of Nashville, Arkansas, my great-grandparents, Rev. W.M. Benson and Edna E. Benson, started the first Black-owned hospital in Howard County after Black patients were placed in the basement of the local hospital.
Their home became a place where doctors and midwives cared for the sick. It later evolved into the first Black-owned nursing home, Benson Nursing Home, which was later led by their son, Rev. Willie Benson Jr. There, we cared for geriatric and psychiatric residents for more than 60 years.
So many Black people became nurses, CNAs, and leaders through this very establishment. I’m honored to have had a place in Black excellence and history.
— Ambe Benson
My grandmother, born in 1903 in Suffolk, Virginia, was the daughter of a doctor, my great-grandfather, William Fuller. They had a housekeeper when she was young, and her father had the very first car in the city of Suffolk.
My grandmother married a Black man from Philadelphia who was a pharmacist and owned his own drugstore, first in Philadelphia and later in Suffolk, Virginia.
My parents both graduated from Howard University in the 1950s, and my father went on to earn a master’s degree. I was in my 30s before I understood how unusual that was.
I was brought up to believe nothing is more important than education. I have an Ivy League MBA.
— Lorna
I worked for 20 years at a medical facility as a nurse tech. I always knew I wanted to be a nurse, but life kept getting in the way, and a divorce was not out of the question.
I met a friend (now my husband) who supported my dreams. All I remember is that every school I attended took my money and kept putting me on the waiting list for the registered nursing program. So I traveled 300 miles away. After years of waiting, I took the exam and passed my boards to become a licensed nurse in 2011.
A year after becoming a nurse, I was in a bad car accident that left me with lifelong disabilities. But my God is good. After a needed surgery, I was able to start my own business doing contract work specializing in wound care and making good money. Although I can’t stand or walk for prolonged periods, I still work part time.
The moral of my story is to never, ever give up on your dreams. God is always watching over us and protecting us. God is good and always on time.
— Rosalind Harris Echols
