Introduction

In 1897 the Hospital and Training School for Nurses opened at 135 Cannon Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The opening of the Hospital and Training School for Nurses provided a place of dignity and respect for African-American patients to go for treatment and for African-American doctors to practice.

Also known as the Cannon Street Hospital, the institution grew out of the need to provide practical experience for nursing students who were denied access at the (Charleston) City Hospital and Old Folks Home. The Hospital and Training School for Nurses was the first hospital in South Carolina established for nurse training and the ninth black institution of its kind in the country.

This exhibit tells the story of the Hospital and Nurses Training School and its successor the McClennan-Banks Hospital.

A note about names: the original hospital was officially known as the Hospital and Training School for Nurses, however it was also referred to as the Cannon Street Hospital, and later as the McClennan-Banks Hospital. Technically, it wasn't until the hospital relocated to Courtenay Street that it was renamed in honor of Dr. Alonzo C. McClennan and Mrs. Anna DeCosta Banks as the McClennan-Banks Memorial Hospital.