Project Renew, Inc. Board of Directors President Dr. Robert E. Harrison Vice President Mr. Harry Penny Secretary Ms. Barbara Bacon Treasurer Mr. J.T. Jones Members Dr. Margaret Wilder Mr. Lawrence Jenkins Mr. Everett Scotland Agent Ms. Patricia Harrison |
Historical Developments The Georgia Medical Community Between 1891 and 1930, the numbers of black medical professionals in Georgia flourished. In 1891, Georgia only twenty-seven black doctors. By 1930, 193 black doctors provided medical services to Georgia blacks. A number of Georgia's black dentists experienced a similar increase. Between 1905 and 1930, the numbers of dentists in Georgia grew from 7 to 60. The following chart illustrates the exponential growth of Georgia's medical professionals. . BLACK DOCTORS BLACK DENTISTS Year Number of Year Number of Doctors Dentists 1891 27 1905 65 1905 7 1915 46 1930 193 1930 60 Developments In Athens, Georgia Many of the members of Athens' growing black middle class resided along Hancock Avenue. The Hiram House was owned by two prominent professionals -- William H. Harris and Ida Mae Hiram -- who provided me services to the black community. Both established offices in Hot Comer, the African American business di located at the comer of Washington and Hull Streets. Dr. William H. Harris' link to Dr. Hiram William H. Harris, a prominent black physician, constructed the house sometime around 1910. Dr. Harris, owned several properties near downtown and in East Athens, rented the property. His first tenant was Willie Effie Davis. Mr. Davis worked as a laborer for a lumber yard. William H. Harris, graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville Tennessee in 1893. He received his post-graduate training at Harvard Medical School, the New York School of Clinical Medicine in Bellevue Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Harris founded several prominent professional organizations, including the Georgia State Medical Association in Augusta and the Improved Order of Samaritans, a fraternal insurance organization in Athens designed to aid indigent blacks with funeral expenses. Dr. Ida Mae Hiram acquires the Harris property. Dr. Ida Mae Hiram began renting the property from Dr. Harris around 1918. In 1934. She purchased the property from Dr. Harris and resided there with her daughter, Alice Hiram Wimberly, who inherited the house at Dr. Hiram's death around 1979. Dr. Hiram, educated at Knox Institute (1905) and Meharry Medical College (1910), was the first black woman dentist in Athens, and the first black woman to pass the Georgia Dental Board exams. Her husband, Lace also practiced dentistry. Lace and Ida Hiram separated, but Ida Hiram continued her practice and employed daughter, Alice, as a dental hygienist. Dr. Hiram practiced dentistry for 55 years, until she was 83 years old. Rosa Bell Strickland, a resident of West Hancock Avenue who lived across from the Hiram House since the early I900's knew Ida and Alice well. Mother and daughter worked as a dental team. Alice, Ms. Strickland remembers, helping her mother "all her life." Ida Mae Hiram and Alice Hiram Wimberly developed interests beyond the medical profession. Both sang choir at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church on Hull Street. A stained glass window exists there, one that features the likeness of a dove, memorializes Ida Hiram. In addition, Alice Hiram Wimberly worked as a teacher at Athens High & Industrial School. Daisy Shaw, a friend of Alice Wimberly, remembers that occasionally Ms. Wimberly held classes for children at the Hiram House. First A.M.E. Church In 1985, a few years after Ms. Wimberly's death, the First A.M.E. Church purchased the property from the estate of Alice Wimberly. Currently, Project Renew Inc., a non-profit organization established by the First A.M.E. Church, restored the building for affordable geriatric housing. Upon its restoration, the Hiram House has come to serve as a reminder of Dr. Ida Mae Hiram and the ascent of the black medical community. (Excerpted from an Athens-Clarke County Historical Preservation Commission Report.) |
