This is a thread about the 1918 flu pandemic and how Miami’s black community got its first real hospital after that pandemic.
Special thanks to @jddelapaz_ for sharing some of his ongoing research on the 1918 flu pandemic and Miami's history.
Special thanks to @jddelapaz_ for sharing some of his ongoing research on the 1918 flu pandemic and Miami's history.
During the 1918 flu pandemic much of Black Miami lived in a segregated area called “Colored Town” now known as Overtown. Most of the homes were made out of wood. There was no running water or connections to sewer lines and it was really dense
When the 1918 flu swept through Miami white people were treated at Miami City Hospital (Now Jackson Health System). Black folks were routinely turned away from that hospital and were largely left to figure it out with no real dedicated health facility.
First, there was a plan to turn a home in Highland Park into a hospital for Miami's black flu patients. The resident who offered the home was met with protests from neighbors who said they didn’t want a temporary black hospital in their community. That was canceled.
D.A. Dorsey, Miami’s first black millionaire and former owner of Fisher Island on Miami Beach, turned his 25-room Overtown Crescent Hotel into a temporary hospital for black folks . Two black nurses were hired to care for the patients that would come through there.
The main hospital for whites was running out of supplies. The black hospital had no supplies at all. They needed everything. There there were ads like this one asking for donations. It reads “Twelve blankets are needed immediately…”
According to UM researcher @jddelapaz_, Miami’s health officer said Overtown was more vulnerable than the rest of the city due to its substandard conditions and density. De La Paz found at height of pandemic there were at least 30 deaths on one avenue in Overtown.
When Miami lifted it’s quarantine and the city started to go back to normal after the pandemic hit, Overtown remained in quarantine an extra few days because it was so high-risk, according to @jddelapaz_.
It’s also likely Overtown remained in quarantine longer because black folks worked as workers in white homes—nannies, cooks, repairmen and maintenance–so the city had to make sure they were ok to protect their employers.
When the city started to rebound, Miami’s black community fought for its own hospital and got it. Christian Hospital was the 1st black-owned hospital in the county. The seed money came from a white woman who could not get her sick black maid treated at Miami City Hospital.
When Miami started to rebound, the black community fought for its own hospital and got it. Christian Hospital was the first black-owned hospital in the county. Seed money came from a white woman who could not get her sick black maid seen at Miami City Hospital.
A quick corrections on # of Overtown deaths tweet: There were at least 10 deaths on one avenue. And some 30 deaths in the community during the 1918 pandemic.
