Black vs. White Tuberculosis
Prior to 1918 the only
place that black people could be treated for Tuberculosis was at the Central
State Hospital for Mental Diseases or in the Virginia State Penitentiary.
This was a problem because black people were more often infected with Tuberculosis
than whites and often if they did make it to the hospital it was when the
disease was so far advanced that the treatment would rarely yield improvement.
The Negro Organization Society organized the building of the first Black Virginia
sanatorium, and quite possible the first in the United States. The Negro Organization
Society purchased 310 acres of land near Burkeville, VA and built the Piedmont
Sanatorium. Unfortunately, the number of beds at the Piedmont Sanatorium remained
well below the total number of beds for white patients. In 1938 the total
number of beds at the Blue Ridge Sanatorium (white) was 270, this number remained
the same until 1939 when a new infirmary was built and then the sanatorium
held 370 patients. The Catawba Sanatorium (white) held 340 patients before
the addition of a new infirmary building that housed another 80 people in
1939. The Piedmont Sanatorium (black) held 150 people in 1938 and 269 in 1939
after a hospital addition.
The supply of infirmaries
did not meet the demand leading to almost triple the deaths in the black patients
versus the white patients. In the late 1930’s all three hospitals received
new infirmaries that were partially funded by the PWA.
In the charts on the adjacent page show the number of deaths from Tuberculosis
in Virginia based on Color. The population and rate of death per 100,000 are
also given.
Population in the State
of Virginia
Year 1938 1939 1940 1941
Whites 1,813,693 1,995,477 2,019,805 2,078,784
Colored 657,279 663,102 664,366 685,557
Total 2,470,972 2,658,579 2,684,171 2,764,341
Number of Deaths from Tuberculosis
in the State of Virginia
Year 1938 1939 1940 1941
Whites 861 780 732 746
Colored 948 838 828 892
Total 1,809 1,618 1,560 1,638
Death Rate Per 100,000
from Tuberculosis in the State of Virginia
Year 1938 1939 1940 1941
Whites 43.6 39.1 36.2 35.9
Colored 143.6 126.7 125.0 130.1
Total 68.7 60.9 58.1 59.3
Public Works Administration
Additions
In 1938, Catawba, Blue
Ridge, and Piedmont sanatoria all requested funds from the Public Works Administration
to construct an infirmary building to house the growing population infected
with Tuberculosis. All three were granted money that totaled 45 percent of
the total cost upon completion for each new project.
Piedmont Sanatorium
Piedmont Sanatorium was
granted the sum of $77,060 to build necessary additions to the hospital, an
eight room addition to the nurses’ home and an addition to the power
plant. This amount was later amended to the amount of $83,181. Williams, Coilie,
and Pipino Architects was the firm commissioned for the project. The new infirmary
held 119 beds.
“...the United States
of America hereby offers to aid in financing the construction of a power plant
and pump house and of additions to a hospital, including necessary equipment,
and the construction of an addition to the nurses home, at the Piedmont Sanatorium
at Burkeville, VA…”
The project was completed
in 1940. The Carter building, the old infirmary, was completely remodeled
after patients were transferred to the new infirmary building. The construction
of a dairy barn that housed 50 cows, a milk house, pasteurizing plant and
grain room, all were completed in 1941. The barns were funded by $20,000 left
over from the PWA grant and 33% ($22,000) from the state. In the 1942 annual
report from Piedmont they expressed difficulty in finding labor to run the
new dairy and also labor and materials to build two new cottages, an employee
dwelling, and an addition to the nurses’ home.
Catawba Sanatorium
Catawba Sanatorium was
granted the sum of $91,022 to build a new hospital and other additions. H.M
Miller was the architect commissioned for the project.
”…The United
States of America hereby offers to aid in financing the construction of a
hospital building (including a connecting corridor to the main infirmary building),
and the construction of alterations and additions to the main infirmary building
and to the nurses’ home at Catawba Sanatorium, including necessary equipment…”
The building program
started in the fall of 1938 was finished in January of 1940. It included a
new 80 bed infirmary, an addition to the 126 bed infirmary; 8 isolation rooms,
five porches were inclosed, new addition to the nurses’ home and porches
enclosed, apartment building for the staff, and a six room cottage for “colored
women employees”.
Blue Ridge Sanatorium
In 1936, Blue Ridge
Sanatorium received $1,500 to pay for 7.7 acres of land adding to the 150
acres tract already in use.
Blue Ridge Sanatorium was granted the sum of $167,726 to build necessary additions
to the hospital, adding 100 beds to the capacity, and upgrading many amenities
on the campus. The architects commissioned for the project were W.E. Stainback
and Pruitt and Brown Architects.
“...the United States
of America hereby offers to aid in financing the construction of an infirmary-culinary
building and of alterations of a central heating plant and of an existing
culinary building, including necessary equipment, the construction of walks
and roadways and the moving of two frame buildings, including the construction
of new foundations and the installation of service connections therefor...”
The General Assembly
paid for the remaining 55% of building costs for the new infirmary building.
The building project started in 1938 and was completed in 1940. The project
spurred construction of a new heating plant and new dairy and horse barns,
along with the alterations to the nurses’ home.
Blue Ridge Sanatorium
Community Development
The Blue Ridge Sanatorium
had several stages of development. In the area just south of the Davis Building
(central I-shaped building) three major changes can be seen not only in the
development of the hospital, but in the development of the cure as well. After
the hospital purchased the land they built pavilions that offered open-air
treatment. The wards were called the Thomas, Strode and Addison buildings
shown on the 1929 Sanborne map. These pavilions were similar to the buildings
that were used in the prototypical cure cottages in Saranac Lake. As the need
for infirmary space increased the sanatorium made plans to build the new Infirmary-Culinary
Building on the site near these three pavilions. The 1951 Sanborne map shows
the Addison building moved to the south of the Thomas building to accommodate
the construction of the new hospital. After the development of Streptomycin,
an antibiotic that drastically changed the healing time of a Tuberculosis
patient, the pavilion type buildings were obsolete in the cure process. The
Blue Ridge Sanatorium tore down the abandoned Thomas, Addison and Strode buildings
(Sanborne map from 1966).
Infirmary-Culinary
Building, Blue Ridge Sanatorium
The Infirmary-Culinary
Building was built in 1939 with grant money from the PWA. The building is
art deco-streamline style and is built with concrete and a brick façade.
The building’s design reoriented the sanatorium complex by turning it’s
face from the center. The entrance was planned to bring visitors to the front
of the new building instead of winding slowly through the grounds. The front
of the building faces south allowing the sleeping porches direct sunlight,
as prescribed to patients seeking the cure. This infirmary shows the new ideals
in Tuberculosis hospital design.
The following pages contain the typical plan and elevations of the new infirmary
building. The building is linear in form with a t-shaped appendage on the
north facade, the culinary wing. The central entrance core is flanked by two
wards. The plans show sleeping porches along the south façade. Before
1944 the major ideal in fighting Tuberculosis was sleeping porches, good diet
and lots of rest. Cure cottages were the first built structures to house the
patients of Tuberculosis. These were open air buildings allowing fresh air
in and even snow in winter time. Later, larger buildings were built that had
maintenance on the north side, hallway, than private rooms that opened into
sleeping porches on the south side. The private rooms were mostly used for
check ups and other private times, but not for sleeping. The new infirmary
had a double loaded corridor, it was a hybrid of pavilion and infirmary, it
still offered sleeping porches along the south face. The antibiotic, discovered
in 1944, was derived from the Streptomyces Griseus mold and greatly reduced
the time it took to recover from Tuberculosis. With the discovery of the antibiotic,
fresh air and good nutrition were no longer top priorities in fighting Tuberculosis.
In later years the sleeping porches were filled in with windows and the private
rooms were inhabited.
Piedmont Sanatorium
Community Development
The Piedmont Sanatorium
was sited near Burkeville, VA on a 310 acre tract of land. The first buildings
built were a brick administration building and a pavilion (the Agnes Randolph
Building). In June 1918, a second pavilion, the Moton Building for men, was
built with money from the State Anti-Tuberculosis Association. In the Sanborne
map from 1921, the Administration Building is flanked by the two pavilions.
In 1923, the sanatorium added an infirmary, the Carter Building, to the north
of the Administration Building. The 2000 map shows that the sanatorium had
many additions and demolitions. The 1940 infirmary building housed the patients
from the wooden pavilions and they were demolished shortly after. After the
discovery of the antibiotic, the sanatorium site was abandoned and later used
as the Piedmont Geriatric Hospital.
Infirmary Building,
Piedmont Sanatorium
The Piedmont Sanatorium
infirmary was built in 1939 with grant money from the PWA. The building was
designed by Williams, Coilie, Pipino Architects to house 119 patients. The
central entrance divides the ward into two equal parts. The building has a
double-loaded corridor and unlike the Blue Ridge building it does not have
sleeping porches along the south façade. The building is constructed
primarily of concrete, contrasting the brick façade of Blue Ridge.
The infirmary replaced the 2 pavilion buildings previously used to treat patients.
Entrances
The entrances of Blue
Ridge and Piedmont Sanatoria are very similar in form. Both have a main central
piece flanked by a stepped façade. The Blue Ridge entrance is streamline
in style with rounded flanking balconies and art-deco style iron detail on
the ground windows. The doors are placed on either side of the central piece.
The steps to the doors are central then divided to both sides. Piedmont’s
entrance is less grandeur in design and material, however the continuation
of the window regulating lines around the façade are also streamline.
Glass block above the door adds an art-deco feel to the entrance. The steps
are central and straight flanked by two planters.
Windows and Side Elevations
Both buildings have
strip windows emphasizing the horizontality. The Piedmont building has a stratified
façade, with vertical corrugated concrete in-between the windows. The
stratification turns the corner onto the side façade and around to
the north façade. Blue Ridge’s sleeping porches offer large openings
separated by small brick columns along the south façade (these openings
were later filled in with windows.) The corners of the building are detailed
with alternating protruding courses of brick that wrap the corner and stop
just short of the windows.
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