Historical Marker Honors Dr. Julian E. Grant, Founder of County’s Only Black Hospital
October 26, 2016
Newberry College today dedicated a historical marker at the original home site of Dr. Julian Edward Grant, who moved to Newberry in 1930 and was the only African-American physician in Newberry County at that time.
Grant and his wife, Grace, raised their family in a modest brick home on the corner of Lindsay and Cheek Streets. The lot was donated to Newberry College by Dr. William Dufford and his siblings, who lived in the adjacent property (also donated to the College) in what is now the Dufford Alumni House.
Bricks and concrete blocks from the original Grant House were conserved during recent demolition of the home and used to construct the historical marker now installed on the edge of the property.
The following text appeared on the commemorative plaque:
Dr. Julian Edward Grant (1900-1997), physician, hospital administrator, and advocate for social justice, was described at his death as “a gentle healer, humanitarian, peacemaker and friend to all who him.”
Dr. Grant and his wife, Grace Funchess Grant (1910-1993) lived in a house on this site for many years and raised their family here.
Dr. Grant, a native of Marlboro County, S.C., graduated from Claflin University in Orangeburg in 1925 and Meharry Medical College, in Nashville, Tenn., in 1929. He moved to Newberry in 1930.
The only African-American doctor in Newberry County at the time, he was often paid in produce or livestock by patients who could not afford to pay anything else. Since there was no hospital in Newberry County for blacks in the early 1930s, Grant urged the African-American community to organize and fund one. His group bought a two-story frame house at the corner of Vincent and Cline Streets for $1,500 in 1935 and opened the Peoples Hospital there in 1937. It was the only hospital for blacks in the county until Newberry County Memorial Hospital desegregated and the two hospitals merged in 1952.
Dr. Grant continued to practice medicine, retiring in 1979 after 49 years’ service. He was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor, by Gov. David Beasly in 1995.
Vincent Street Park, a city park near the site of Peoples Hospital, was renamed Dr. Julian E. Grant Park in his memory in 2014.
Dedicated by Newberry College
Dufford Diversity and Inclusion Week
October 24, 2016
The dedication of the historical marker is one of the events hosted as part of the fourth annual Dufford Diversity and Inclusion Week. Through lectures, music, plays and discussions, the week-long event seeks to foster a community that understands and appreciates diversity and creates an environment of inclusivity.
