Dr. Riley Andrew Ransom
Haltom City, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Kentucky, Riley Andrew Ransom studied medicine at Louisville National Medical College. Upon coming to Gainesville, Texas, during the early 1900s, he opened the Booker T. Washington Sanitarium. In 1918 Dr. Ransom moved the hospital to Fort Worth, where he served as Chief Surgeon until the facility closed in 1949. He is remembered for his community leadership and for his significant contributions to the development of health care in Fort Worth.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Trained at Louisville National Medical College in an era when few medical schools admitted Black students, Dr. Riley Andrew Ransom brought his skills to North Texas in the early 1900s. He opened the Booker T. Washington Sanitarium in Gainesville, then moved it to Fort Worth in 1918, serving as Chief Surgeon until it closed in 1949. For a Black community long shut out of segregated hospitals, his sanitarium was a lifeline of professional care.
Why it matters
Ransom's decades of practice trace the story of African American physicians who built their own institutions to deliver dignified health care under Jim Crow.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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