Conclusion (1900-1926, Section 10)

Carter Walker Wesley, 1920s (Printed in Coming to Houston, Houston Review, Vol. 3 No. 1 Fall 2005, courtesy of Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.)

Dr. G.P.A. Forde, c. 1950s. (Courtesy of Dr. Gladys Forde)

Since the Jim Crow system prohibited African-American physicians from obtaining privileges at other hospitals throughout the South, the Houston Negro Hospital helped make the Texas boomtown a desirable place for black doctors to practice medicine. Carter Walker Wesley, a native Houstonian lawyer and newspaperman, recruited Dr. George Patrick Alfonso (G.P.A.) Forde, for example.

Forde left his practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma because of the opportunities afforded by the Houston Negro Hospital. Like Dr. Roett, Dr. Forde was born and raised in Barbados. He worked at the Panama Canal Hospital on his way to the United States, earning the money that allowed him to immigrate. He finished first in the 1913 graduating class at Meharry Medical College. He moved his family to Houston in 1927.

Continuing a legacy that emphasized education and service, Dr. Roett’s daughter, Catherine, later earned her medical degree at Howard University College of Medicine and Dr. Forde’s daughter, Gladys, garnered a Ph.D. in Theater from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Like their fathers, both made their homes in Houston and became leaders of its African-American community.

Hear Dr. Natalie Carroll explain what brought so many African-American physicians to Houston.