Henry Morgan Green

Henry Morgan Green
Green in 1910
Born1877
Adairsville, Georgia, U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1939
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Other namesH. M. Green
Alma materKnoxville College,
University of Michigan,
Northwestern University
Occupations
  • Physician
  • national healthcare leader
  • scholar
  • real estate investor
  • alderman
SpouseHenri Henderson
Children2

Henry Morgan Green (1877–1939) was an American physician, a national healthcare leader,[1] researcher, scholar, real estate investor, and alderman.[2] He served as the city physician in Knoxville, Tennessee, and president of the National Medical Association.[3] He was one of the founders of Knoxville Medical College;[4] and is credited with expanding healthcare coverage for the Black community in Knoxville.[1]

Early life and education

Appalachian Exposition's Negro Building (1910); Green served as the chairman of the "Colored Department" during the event
Appalachian Exposition's Negro Building (1910); Green served as the chairman of the "Colored Department" during the event

Henry Morgan Green was born in 1877 in Adairsville, Georgia.[3][5] Green studied at the Normal School at Knoxville College, where he graduated (1895).[3][6]

After a year of teaching in Riceville, Tennessee, he returned a year later to Knoxville College to attend the college's newly established medical department.[7][6] Green continued studies at the University of Michigan, and Northwestern University.[when?][3]

Career

He had an early medical practice in Jellico, Tennessee.[8] For 17 years he served as the city physician in Knoxville, Tennessee; and worked as a doctor in Knoxville from 1900 to 1939.[3][4] Green was one of the founders of Knoxville Medical College (1900–1910).[4][9]

In 1900, Green became an alderman (or council member) in order to represent his neighborhood in the fifth ward, he was the first Black alderman in the city.[2] He remained an alderman until 1912, and it took another 62 years before the Knoxville city council had another Black alderman.[10][11][12] In 1910 and 1911, Green served as the chairman of the "Colored Department" at the Appalachian Exposition, held in Knoxville.[13]

He served as president of the National Medical Association, elected in 1922;[7][14] and was the founding president of the National Hospital Association in 1923.[3][4]

In 1922, Green married school teacher Henri Henderson; and together they had two children.[3][8]

Death and legacy

He died of pneumonia on March 19, 1939, in Knoxville.[8] He is buried on the campus of Knoxville College, in the Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery (formerly known as the Fourth United Presbyterian Church Cemetery).[15]

The Green School (sometimes refer to as the "Colored High School" in the early years) in Knoxville was named for him, and opened in 1909.[5][16] Green was profiled in the book, The Knoxville Negro: Emphasizing the Great Era of Progress Prevalent in Negro Knoxville Today (1929) by Bartow G. Wilson.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Black historian, Joe Valentine, shows the impact Black figures from Knoxville made throughout history". WBIR. February 11, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  2. ^ a b "Hard Problems for New City Officials". Knoxville Sentinel. 1908-01-25. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Wilson, Bartow G. (June 1929). The Knoxville Negro: Emphasizing the Great Era of Progress Prevalent in Negro Knoxville Today. pp. 19–20. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection.
  4. ^ a b c d "Dr. Henry Morgan Green". James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University.
  5. ^ a b Zimmerman, Elena Irish (1998-06-01). Knoxville, Tennessee. Arcadia Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-7385-8987-9.
  6. ^ a b "Knoxville College had white grads in early days". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2016-12-27. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  7. ^ a b Booker, Robert (2012-02-14). "City boasts long roll of black achievers". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  8. ^ a b c "Illness Ends Long Career of Service by Dr Green". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 1939-03-20. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  9. ^ Watson, Wilbur (2017-12-02). Against the Odds: Blacks in the Profession of Medicine in the United States. Routledge. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-1-351-53334-8.
  10. ^ "Black Knoxvillians elected Dr. Presnell as 'Bronze Mayor'". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2022-10-16. pp. E2. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  11. ^ "The History of Black City Council Members". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2017-10-30. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  12. ^ "A Century Born". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2012-01-29. pp. S2 – S3, S4. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  13. ^ "Colored Department, Exponent of Progress of Negros". Knoxville Sentinel. 1910-09-06. p. 36. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  14. ^ Williams, Richard Allen (2020). Blacks in Medicine: Clinical, Demographic, and Socioeconomic Correlations. Springer Nature. pp. 98–99. ISBN 9783030419608.
  15. ^ "Honoring burial site". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2009-09-29. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  16. ^ "Schools didn't teach about black leaders". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2017-01-24. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  17. ^ Booker, Robert (2007-01-23). "Book named prominent blacks". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-04-08.