Lt. Colonel Joseph Ward MD Historical Marker
Donation protected
During the Jim Crow era in the United States, 1896 to 1954, Joseph H. Ward (1872-1956) became a physician, surgeon, entrepreneur, U.S. Army officer, hospital Administrator, and civic leader. These accomplishments are even more remarkable considering that Joseph Ward was a first generation-freedmen.
Between 1903 and 1938, Dr. Ward owned and operated Ward’s Sanitarium in Indianapolis, its last location was 2116 N. Boulevard Place (1921-1938). Records indicate that when it opened in 1921, the facility had patient rooms, a surgery room, laboratory, and X-Ray machine. Ward’s Sanitarium was made necessary at the time because the city's private hospitals would not accept black patients nor doctors, and the Indianapolis City Hospital (the public hospital) only took a limited number of black patients, in its basement “colored ward,” and black doctors were not allowed practice medicine in City Hospital.
During the First World War, Dr. Ward joined the U.S. Army, at age 45, and served in France as a medical doctor with the all black 92nd Infantry Division, where he was promoted to the rank of major, and became the first African American to lead a U.S. Army field hospital. From 1921 to 1936, Dr. Ward was the administrator and chief medical officer of Veterans Hospital #91, a 600-bed facility, in Tuskegee, Alabama, the only veteran’s facility that would accept black veterans of the U.S. military.
Thank you for considering a contribution to this fund. The unveiling ceremony is proposed for Memorial Day, 2019. Please donate funding as soon as possible to ensure this event becomes a reality.
It has been an honor to research the narrative of Dr. Joseph H. Ward’s accomplishments. Acknowledgment of such achievements deserve public recognition. Thank you in advance for contributing to the fund to create and erect a state approved historical marker for Dr. Ward to be located on the site of Ward’s Sanitarium.
Sincerely,
Leon E. Bates
PhD Student
Department of History
Wayne State University
Between 1903 and 1938, Dr. Ward owned and operated Ward’s Sanitarium in Indianapolis, its last location was 2116 N. Boulevard Place (1921-1938). Records indicate that when it opened in 1921, the facility had patient rooms, a surgery room, laboratory, and X-Ray machine. Ward’s Sanitarium was made necessary at the time because the city's private hospitals would not accept black patients nor doctors, and the Indianapolis City Hospital (the public hospital) only took a limited number of black patients, in its basement “colored ward,” and black doctors were not allowed practice medicine in City Hospital.
During the First World War, Dr. Ward joined the U.S. Army, at age 45, and served in France as a medical doctor with the all black 92nd Infantry Division, where he was promoted to the rank of major, and became the first African American to lead a U.S. Army field hospital. From 1921 to 1936, Dr. Ward was the administrator and chief medical officer of Veterans Hospital #91, a 600-bed facility, in Tuskegee, Alabama, the only veteran’s facility that would accept black veterans of the U.S. military.
Thank you for considering a contribution to this fund. The unveiling ceremony is proposed for Memorial Day, 2019. Please donate funding as soon as possible to ensure this event becomes a reality.
It has been an honor to research the narrative of Dr. Joseph H. Ward’s accomplishments. Acknowledgment of such achievements deserve public recognition. Thank you in advance for contributing to the fund to create and erect a state approved historical marker for Dr. Ward to be located on the site of Ward’s Sanitarium.
Sincerely,
Leon E. Bates
PhD Student
Department of History
Wayne State University
Organizer
Leon Bates
Organizer
Indianapolis, IN