Today in 1918, in Alabama, Dr. Charles Howard Wright moved to Detroit, where he challenged racial segregation at Hutzel Women’s Hospital. His efforts led to policy changes and inspired his founding of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, a major institution for black history and civil rights.
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Today marks the birthday of Charles Howard Wright today in 1918 in Alabama. After becoming a medical Doctor, he moved to Detroit working for the Hutzel Women’s Hospital, where he witnessed and complained to a state senator about the segregationist practices there. Dr. Wright’s black patients were not admitted in rooms with white patients, and the hospital did not accept black interns or residents either. After being confronted, the hospital chairman of the board reversed the racist policies of the hospital. Buoyed by success, Dr. Wright spear headed many efforts of equality in the burgeoning civil rights movement. After starting a small museum on black history in his basement, the International Afro-American Museum. It would grow and become named after him moving to Detroit’s University Cultural Center, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.