Dr. Constantine C. Barnett
( 1869 - 1935 )

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Dr. Constantine C. Barnett (1869-1935) was born in New Canton, Virginia, the son of slave parents. The family moved to Huntington in 1871. Education in the local schools, Barnett earned his medical degree at Howard University, Returning to Huntington, he began practicing as a physician and surgeon in the city's African American community. Although his work as a doctor was already hugh accomplishment, Barnett wanted to give more back to the African American residents of Huntington. Inspired by the story of a young Black employee of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway who was injured on the job and eventally died because he was refused treatment due to his skin color. Barnett opened the Barnett Hospital in his home. When it first opened, the little hospital had only a few beds But it was greatly added to over the years and eventually had 50 beds, 10 physicians, eight nurses, two operating rooms and an x-ray department. in 1918, Dr. Barnett's wife Clara, a trained nurse, opened the Barnett Nursing School. At that time, few of the nation's nursing schools would admit African Americans. Unable to pay the mortgage, Dr. Barnett lost his hospital to the bank in the Great Depression, but for another decade the city operated it, treating patients of all races. It closed for good in 1939

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