The Houston Negro Hospital: The Untold Legacy of Riverside General

"This Great Hospital Fight" - Dr. Drake

At the height of racial and political tensions in early twentieth-century Houston, two unlikely figures became allies. Dr. William M. Drake, a pioneering surgeon and Black community leader, and Joseph Cullinan, a white oil magnate and founder of the company that became Texaco, united in a desperate effort to save a hospital that symbolized hope. The Houston Negro Hospital was born from America's Black hospital movement. Dedicated on Juneteenth 1926, it embodied a bold experiment to bring dignity and health care access to a community that was systematically denied both in the Jim Crow South.

Journalist and storyteller Carlton Houston--whose ancestors played a role in this remarkable heritage--reveals the untold, human drama behind the institution that would become Riverside General. Discover the vision, conflict, and resilience that shaped a century of health care through the struggle of those determined to save lives.

Author: Carlton Houston
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: History Press
Published: 05/26/2026
Series: American Heritage
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781467171625