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@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake,
A recent article on Xavier University’s plans to open a medical school mentioned the John D. Flint Medical College as one of the last historically Black medical schools in the area. Where was it located and when?
Dear reader,
JOHN D. FLINT MEDICAL COLLEGE,
named for a Massachusetts philanthropist, has its roots in New Orleans University, which would later become part of Dillard University. The medical school was established in 1896 as one of the few medical schools for Black students at that time. It was affiliated with the Phyllis Wheatley Sanitarium and Training School for Negro Nurses. Both schools were located at Canal and Robertson streets. “The Flint Medical College has been prominent among the Negro colleges of the country and graduates from it have taken a leading place among practitioners of the race in their national medical associations,” reported The TimesPicayune in 1913, two years after the medical school closed its doors.
H A P PY
PHOTO BY MA X BECHERER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E
Dillard University After the medical college closed, the buildings were converted into a 50-bed hospital known as FlintGoodridge Hospital. The new name incorporated the Sarah Goodridge Hospital and Nurses Training School, which had been affiliated with Flint since 1901. In 1930, money was raised for a new hospital facility. The new Flint-Goodridge opened in 1932 at 2425 Louisiana Ave. It served the city’s Black community for decades. The city’s first three Black mayors, Ernest Morial, Sidney Barthelemy and Marc Morial, were all born there. The hospital closed in 1983 and is now an apartment complex.
BL AKEVIE W COPIES OF THIS YEAR’S OFFICIAL NEW ORLEANS JAZZ AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL POSTER — with artist Terrance Osborne’s fantastic depiction of Jon Batiste
— will no doubt sell briskly at the Fair Grounds as the fest closes out its second weekend. That’s a far cry from the lackluster sales of the first Jazz Fest poster in 1975 when creator Bud Brimberg profited less than $500. At the time, Brimberg was a Tulane law student who signed up for a business class where his assignment was to create a business plan. He came up with the idea of a collectible Jazz Fest poster. Unlike posters in the festival’s early years, his was not designed to promote the dates of the event or sell tickets. It was intended to commemorate the event and create additional revenue. Initially, Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis was not enthused, until Brimberg offered a percentage of gross from the first dollar he took in. The first limited edition silk-screen poster by Sharon Dinkins and Thorn Grafton depicted a jazz band’s grand marshal holding an umbrella. The poster sold for $3.95. In later years, collectors would pay close to $5,000 for one. In 1976, Brimberg added an artist-signed edition of numbered posters. Since then, more than a half million posters have been sold. In 1994, the festival also began offering a series of Congo Square posters. In 1989, Brimberg’s company, ProCreations Publishing, honored Fats Domino with the first in its performer poster series. Domino and artist Richard Thomas signed 500 numbered prints. Subsequent posters have honored Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, Pete Fountain, Mahalia Jackson, Irma Thomas, Al Hirt, Louis Prima, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Aaron Neville and others. The posters and BayouWear clothing are now created and distributed by Art4now. This year marks Osborne’s sixth Jazz Fest poster (including two Congo Square posters). Other noted artists to have created festival posters include George Rodrigue, James Michalopoulos, Peter Max, Tony Bennett, George Dureau and Garland Robinette.
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