Working to End Segregated Hospitals

PORT DEPOSIT — On Nov 10, 1960, Port Deposit resident, Patrica Taylor Stamps, 23, was rushed to Harford Memorial Hospital. There she was admitted to the segregated ward for African-Americans. Expecting to deliver her baby boy, Carlos, the doctor told her there were medical complications and the procedure needed to happen immediately.

On delivery, Carlos was in acute distress. A modern, state-of-the-art incubator, a piece of medical equipment that provided an oxygen-enriched environment for newborns was not available in the segregated area. With the baby struggling to breathe, a white nurse soon made a decision. She grabbed the newborn, rushing to the white maternity ward on an upper floor where had the special equipment.

But it was too late as Baby Carlos passed away. Patricia died soon hearing that her bay died.

George Thomas Stansbury (1922 – 1996), an African-American Physician in Havre de Grace, stayed with Patricia all night working to comfort her. Dr. Stansbury provided care for black residents in western Cecil and a large part of Harford County.

While dealing with his grief, Mr. Stamps made an important decision. He decided that the thing to do was to seek to end segregation at Harford Memorial Hospital. In 1963, a year before federal laws caught up, the Havre de Grace Hospital agreed and integrated. In 2018, the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center formally acknowledged the 1960 family tragedy with a ceremony and mounted a plaque on a wall in the lobby of Harford Memorial.

Last Wednesday (9/26/19) Mr. Willie Stamps visited Harford Community College to talk about this sad event and events throughout his life. The standing-room-only facility was filled with about 110 to 115 guests as faculty, students, and the community came to hear this untold story.

Some things, such as school integration, have received a good bit of attention in recent years in, but there are many unexplored aspects about Jim Crow in this era in northeastern Maryland that history publications and newspapers haven’t examined. And that is something Harford Community College is working to address.

Segregated Hospital

Most hospitals in Maryland and Delaware were segregated. African-Americans were admitted to a special ward as the law accepted separate but equal care. Of course, that standard was often ignored.

Also, African-American physicians had either no or very limited admitting privileges. In some places they could visit the “colored ward,” but in Elkton, they had to go to the white doctor when one of their patients needed in-patient care.

As brave people like Mr. Stamp took a stand, it gradually began to change to end to the segregated hospital in the northeastern corner of Maryland until finally, the federal laws caught up with everything.

Here’s a photo album about this tragedy and Mr. Stamps lecture at the College. Some of my students are involved in interviewing him, and I’m sure that will be an experience they won’t forget.

For the full article on Mike’s History Blog click this link
http://www.dixonhistory.com/…/segregation-at-harford-memor…/

Also See

Remember Dr. James L. Johnson, a respected Cecil County African-American Physician