Grace Baxter Fenderson (1882-1962) and the Kenney Memorial Hospital Women's Auxiliary, Newark, New Jersey

• In Event: Exploring the Legacy and Significance of Black Health Activists

Abstract

Examines the role of Grace Baxter Fenderson and the history of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Kenney Memorial Hospital, the organization attached to the black-founded and black-run hospital in Newark, New Jersey, which opened in 1927 and later closed its doors in 1952. The auxiliary made significant contributions to the hospital and to the health care of Newark’s African American community, through its fundraising efforts, health clinics, and public health awareness campaigns. Explores: (1) the lives and community involvement of Mrs. Fenderson and selected women active in the auxiliary; and, (2) the specific activities that enabled the auxiliary to care for the community and support a privately-owned, and later community-owned, northeastern hospital until 1952. By tracing the women’s intricate social backgrounds, community activities, and social networks, one restores this generation of Newark’s African American women public health activists to their place in history.

Author

• Sibyl E. Moses, Library of Congress