City of St. Jude

Campus

Father Purcell started the first Catholic ministry for African Americans in Alabama, opening a dispensary in a rented house on Holt Street in Montgomery starting on June 2, 1934. Purcell received funds from Bishop Thomas Joseph Toolen, head of the Diocese of Mobile in 1936 and purchased 56 acre between Hill and Oak Streets, soon afterwards building and dedicating a church at the site to Saint Jude the Apostle in 1938. By 1938, the City of St. Jude had already treated 8,000 unique patients.

Church (1938–)

Social center (1939–)

The social center was built soon after the church, in 1939. The City of St. Jude proposed that a "Campsite 4 Experience" Museum would be housed at the social center while raising funds to build an interpretive center.

School (1947–2014)

Main article: St. Jude Educational Institute

The first classes at the City of St. Jude were held in the basement of the 1938 church. St. Jude Educational Institute was not explicitly segregated, even though Bishop Toolen did not support integration, and early classes featured predominantly African American classes with some white students.

During the 25th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches, former Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in the doorway of the St. Jude Educational Institute to welcome civil rights activists.

Hospital (1951–1985)

The St. Jude Catholic Hospital, which opened in 1951, was the first integrated hospital in the southeastern United States, and the first hospital in the region to admit all patients regardless of color or creed. It is also the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's two eldest children, Yolanda and Martin Luther III.

After being shot following the Selma to Montgomery march, activist Viola Liuzzo was taken to the hospital at St. Jude, where doctors unsuccessfully tried to save her life. Although the hospital closed in 1985, the building was converted to low-cost apartments in 1992.

''Stars for Freedom''

During the final night of the Selma to Montgomery marches on March 24, 1965, an estimated 10,000 marchers camped on an athletic field in the St. Jude campus and watched the Stars for Freedom rally, featuring many celebrities. Performances were held on a makeshift stage consisting of empty coffin shipping crates topped by plywood sheets. The next morning, the crowd that marched from the City of St. Jude was estimated at 25,000, and the tail of the procession did not reach the Alabama State Capitol building until nearly ninety minutes after the leaders of the march.

The pastor of St. Jude asked Bishop Toolen for permission to allow the marchers to camp overnight, which was granted, but Toolen warned the pastor "there would be consequences." Some of the hospital employees also resigned in the wake of the march, and white students left the school.

The following celebrities were present at Stars for Freedom:

• Joan Baez
• James Baldwin
• Ina Balin
• Harry Belafonte
• Tony Bennett
• Leonard Bernstein
• Sammy Davis Jr.
• Billy Eckstine
• Dick Gregory
• Lena Horne
• Mahalia Jackson
• Alan King
• Frankie Laine
• William Marshall
• Johnny Mathis
• Gary Merrill
• The Chad Mitchell Trio
• Odetta
• Peter, Paul and Mary
• Pernell Roberts
• Julius "Nipsey" Russell
• Pete Seeger
• Nina Simone
• Shelley Winters

Legacy

In 2008, the National Park Service recommended Alabama State University over the City of St. Jude for the third Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail interpretive center. In response, after a fundraising effort, the City of St. Jude opened its own interpretive center in 2015.

Gallery

File:St Jude School June09 01.jpg|St. Jude Educational Institute (2009) File:St Jude Hospital June09 02.jpg|St. Jude's Catholic Hospital (2009) File:City of St Jude June09 03.jpg|Social Center (2009), with portion of garden that later became the Interpretive Garden File:City of St Jude June09 02.jpg|Rectory (2009)

References

References

1. {{NRISref. 2009a
2. "City of St. Jude".
3. Claridy, Keith R.. (19 May 2014). "City of St. Jude".
4. Purcell, Father Harold. (1940). "City of St. Jude Newsletter". W.E. B. Du Bois Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
5. Cleek, Ashley. (22 March 2015). "Montgomery Catholic Mission Finally Celebrates Its Role in the Selma Marches". WBHM.
6. . (2016). ["City of Saint Jude"](http://visitingmontgomery.com/play/city-of-saint-jude). *Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce: Convention and Visitor Bureau*.
7. "City of St. Jude".
8. . ["City of St. Jude Historic District"](https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al5.htm). *National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior*.
9. "Selma-to-Montgomery 1965 Voting Rights March". Alabama Department of Archives and History.
10. Benn, Alvin. (31 March 2014). "City of St. Jude preps for civil rights march celebration". Montgomery Advertiser.
11. Reed, Roy. (25 March 1965). "25,000 Go to Alabama's Capitol; Wallace Rebuffs Petitioners; White Rights Worker is Slain". The New York Times.
12. McPhail, Carol. (25 March 2015). "Meet the Catholic parish that dared take in Civil Rights marchers 50 years ago". Birmingham News.
13. . (2014). ["The Campsite 4 Experience"](http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/african-american/upload/City-of-St-Jude-fundraiser-Campsite-4.pdf). *United States Conference of Catholic Bishops*.
14. Clark, Doug. (18 January 2015). "King letter of thanks hangs on his wall". The Spokesman Review.
15. . (23 October 2008). ["City of St. Jude responds to Interpretive Center selection"](http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?s=9229923&clienttype=printable). *WSFA*.
16. Taylor, Drew. (20 March 2015). "St. Jude celebrates role in Selma march with new center". Montgomery Advertiser.