'Hospital Care for Negroes': Survey Documents Medical Exclusion Nationwide

A 1928 survey by the Julius Rosenwald Fund found that Black patients were excluded from 90% of American hospitals and that Black physicians were barred from membership in the American Medical Association and from hospital staff positions. The study documented Black maternal mortality at 2.7 times the white rate and Black infant mortality at twice the white rate. The survey was used by the NMA (National Medical Association, the Black physicians' organization) to advocate for Black hospital construction. The Rosenwald Fund subsequently funded construction of Black hospitals and health centers in rural Southern communities.