Tours
The Veterans Administration Hospital: The Politics of Integration
The Jackson VA Hospital opened in 1962 to replace the insufficient VA medical facility in West Jackson. Mississippi officials were hesitant to give the land for the new hospital because it, as a federal facility, would be racially integrated, which was unacceptable to many at the time. The decision pitted segregationists against war veterans who needed medical care. The veterans won the battle. UMMC and the VA have been partners in training medical students and residents since 1955.
The G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center, located in Jackson, Mississippi, has a rich history of serving the veterans of the state. In January 1946, the VA took over operation of Foster General Hospital on Lindberg Drive, in West Jackson. Named for Col. C. L. Foster, a native Mississippian who had served 40 years in the Army Medical Corps, the 2,000-bed cantonment-type hospital had been used by the army since June 15, 1943. The facility, which began receiving patients one year from the time construction was started on June 7, 1942, consisted of 112 buildings on a plot of 136 acres. The original cost was $4,500,000.
The Hospital operated under an 80-bed allocation, with emphasis on care for general medical and surgical cases. Much of the treatment during the late 1940's involved continuing care for the wounded of World War II. Mingled with these younger veterans were those from World War I and occasionally those from the Spanish-American War. As staff and equipment became available, specialty treatment areas were added. These included thoracic surgery, tuberculosis, and neuropsychiatry.
The Jackson Center had hardly reached the level-off period following World War II when it had to face the problems and challenges of a new war. With the advent of the Korean Conflict in June 1950, it became necessary to give consideration to a new group of veterans. New laws and additional work necessitated some realignments within the VA and gave impetus to use of new methods and techniques in all phases of operations.
UMMC faced ongoing pressures to desegregate, especially as federal funding became critical. Leaders at the medical school, including Dr. Robert Marston, worked quietly to undermine segregation, and maintain the important partnership with the new VA Hospital.
In 1955, the Jackson VA Center entered into an affiliation with the University Medical Center, allowing for the training of medical residents and students. The first assignment of residents to the VA Hospital under this program was in 1956, when two physicians came for specialty study. This partnership continues to this day, with numerous residents, interns, and students receiving training at the VA Center.
The latter part of the 1950 decade brought maturation of hope and anticipation for a new VA building in Jackson. After a period of reports and rumors as to location and time of the proposed facility, it was decided that the site would be a plot adjacent to the University Medical Center. The State of Mississippi transferred the land to the United States in 1958. Congress appropriated $14,000,000 for the project later that year. Then came long months of architectural planning and finally awarding of the construction contract early in 1959.
The Cornerstone Laying Ceremonies for the new building came on May 12, 1960. Less than 18 months later, on November 1, 1961, a VA press release announced: “Today the construction of the new Veterans Administration Center in Jackson was completed by J. A. Jones Construction Company and transferred to the Veterans Administration."
The construction of a new VA Center building adjacent to the University Medical Center was completed in 1961. Dedication services and open house for the Center were on Sunday, April 1, 1962. The program, with Center Director Walter R. Byrd presiding, included addresses by Mr. J. S. Gleason, Jr., Administrator of Veterans Affairs; Dr. W. S. Middleton, Chief Medical Director; and Mr. P. N. Brownstein, Chief Benefits Director. Special guests included Governor Ross R. Barnett of Mississippi; Senators James O. Eastland and John C. Stennis of Mississippi; Congressmen Thomas G. Abernethy, Frank E. Smith, Arthur Winstead, Jamie L. Whitten, John Bell Williams, and William M. Colmer of Mississippi; Congressman Olin E. Teague of Texas; Congressman Walter S. Baring of Nevada; Congressman Torbert H. MacDonald of Massachusetts; Congressman Robert A. Everett of Tennessee, and Congressman John P. Saylor of Pennsylvania.
Sources:
Smith DB. The politics of racial disparities: desegregating the hospitals in Jackson, Mississippi. Milbank Q. 2005;83(2):247-69. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00346.x. PMID: 15960771; PMCID: PMC2690142.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023, June 28). History of the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center. https://www.va.gov/jackson-health-care/about-us/history/