Portions of a local historical landmark and site were left in ruins following a fire that investigators believe started from a vagrant who was living inside the abandoned facility.
Although the historical Afro-American Hospital of Yazoo City had been abandoned for many years, there had always been the discussion of restoring the facility through a variety of programs and grant funding. However, the future is unclear after half of the building was destroyed by a fire last Tuesday with local firefighters fighting the blaze for several hours into the next morning.
Assistant Fire Chief Kenny Washington said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. But he believes the fire was started by a vagrant who was living inside the abandoned property. As of press times, no arrests or charges have been made.
Last week’s fire was a devastating scenario for many within the community, considering the rich history behind the historical landmark.
In 1924, T.J. Huddleston Sr., founded the Afro-American Sons and Daughters, a fraternal organization in Mississippi and one of the leading black voluntary associations in the state. Organized in 1924, it had 35,000 members by the 1930s.
In 1928, the association opened the Afro-American Hospital of Yazoo City, the first hospital for blacks in the state. Dr. Lloyd Tevis Miller (L.T. Miller), co-founder of the Mississippi Medical and Surgical Association, the state’s largest and oldest organization representing African American health professionals, was recruited by Huddleston to serve as the facility’s first director.
The hospital offered both major and minor surgery. The facility’s primary mission was to serve its members but, given the lack of quality health care facilities available to blacks at the time, the hospital served not only individuals from Yazoo City and the Delta region but other parts of Mississippi and the South as well.
The hospital served the area for 60 years before closing in the 1970s. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and was also included on a list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in Mississippi.
