Helen Mae Lennon Hospital Record Book
This 248-page ledger book appears to be a nurse's patient record for the Helen Mae Lennon Hospital. Each entry includes the date, the patient's name, treatment instructions or progress, and a doctor's signature. Treatments are varied, but often feature castor oil, soda bicarb, soft diet, bed rest, and hot water bottles. Doctors' signatures include E. F. Lennon, M. L. Boyd, and S. M. Clark.
Dates
- 1923 January 6-1928 November 11
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite, and a minimum of 24 hours is needed to retrieve these items for use. Researchers interested in consulting any of the collections are advised to contact Special collections.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Abstract
This 248-page ledger book appears to be a nurse's patient record for the Helen Mae Lennon Hospital. Each entry includes the date, the patient's name, treatment instructions or progress, and a doctor's signature. Treatments are varied, but often feature castor oil, soda bicarb, soft diet, bed rest, and hot water bottles. Doctors' signatures include E. F. Lennon, M. L. Boyd, and S. M. Clark.
Biographical/Historical Note
Edgar Franklin Lennon was born in North Carolina. He graduated from Morristown High School and earned his MD from Meharry College in 1917. Lennon married Helen Mae White on May 3, 1922 and the couple had one son, Edgar Frank. As a black man, Lennon was unable to practice at Knoxville General Hospital, so he opened the Helen Mae Lennon Hospital and nurse training school in 1923. His wife, a registered nurse, operated the hospital from 1924 until it closed in 1933. Edgar Lennon was later instrumental in the legal battle that gave black physicians the right to practice in Knoxville General Hospital's Negro Ward. Helen (White) Lennon, however, possessed a volatile personality and tended toward alcoholism. She and her husband divorced in about 1960, and Edgar Lennon married pharmacist Avis Ruth Evans (1905-1998) in October of 1964. Edgar F. Lennon died on July 29, 1966.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single box.
Acquisition Note
The Knoxville Academy of Medicine donated this ledger to Special Collections.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository