Whittier C. Atkinson (1893-1991)
Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Founded Clement Atkinson Memorial Hospital here, 1936, offering quality health care to all despite inability to pay. First African American president of Chester County Medical Society; Pa. Practitioner of the year, 1960. A 1924 graduate of Howard University, he began his Coatesville practice in 1927.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
A 1924 Howard University graduate, Dr. Whittier C. Atkinson opened his practice in Coatesville in 1927 and in 1936 founded the Clement Atkinson Memorial Hospital, offering care to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. He broke barriers as the first African American president of the Chester County Medical Society and was named Pennsylvania Practitioner of the Year in 1960. His hospital stood as a rare place of open access in an era of segregated medicine.
Why it matters
Atkinson's career embodies the long struggle for equal access to health care and the pioneering role of Black physicians in serving communities that mainstream medicine too often turned away.
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Related people
- · Whittier C. Atkinson
Themes & tags
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