"Dr.Thomas Unthank"(1866-November 28,1932)

He enrolled at Howard University school of medicine in Washington,D.C. in Thomas graduated in 1898,moved to Kansas City Missouri and opened Lange Hospital.In 1903 a devastating flood kit Kansas City.Hundreds of people were injured or sick,and all the hospitals were overcrowded with the wounded.Convention Hall,in downtown Kansas City,became a makeshift hospital.The building was divided into sections,with one are exclusively for minorities.Dr.Unthank was called upon to care for those victims.As a result of the flood crisis,he began a crusade to develop a municipal hospital solely to serve the minority community.White Dr's and city leaders showed little interest in his proposal.Dr.Unthank eventually overcame the indifference and prejudice shown by city officals and the white medical community.Her persuaded the city to allow the old General Hospital to become the "colored division"when white patients were moved to a new,modern facility in 1908.He cofounded,with Dr.S.H.Thompson,Douglass Hospital in Kansas City,Kansas.The building was renamed General Hospital No. 2.This was one of the first public hospitals used exclusively for minority citizens in the United States.In 1930,a new hospital replaced the older structure.Dr.Unthank spent much of his life helping his community.Through his efforts, a county home home for elderly Black citizens was established and a park and recreational area for black residents of Kansas City was built.