WS Chronicle

The distrust between the Black community and the health care system dates back to the time people of African descent first arrived in this country. Experiments and studies like the ‘Mississippi Appendectomy experiment,’ ‘The Ebb Cade Experiment,’ and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, only heightened that distrust. 

A saving grace for the Black community over time has been Black doctors. Studies have shown that Black patients have better health outcomes when they’re seen by Black physicians. Throughout history, dating back as far as the 1880s, Black doctors here in Winston-Salem have been advocating for Black people.  

As part of our History, Heritage, Culture Series, this week we will highlight just a few of those names.   

Dr. W.H. Bruce  

Dr. William Henry Bruce was born Aug. 5, 1882, in Vance, North Carolina. After attending Henderson Normal School, Bruce earned his medical degree from Leonard Medical School (now Shaw University).  

In 1908, Dr. Bruce relocated to Winston-Salem and a year later he joined a group of Black men who assumed management of Slater Hospital, the city’s first hospital for Black patients.  

In the 1920s, Dr. Bruce built a commercial building on Depot Street (now Patterson Avenue), which housed his office and several other businesses. The “Bruce Building” was built with a storefront on the ground floor and about thirty offices for medical professionals on the second. Historical records show Dr. W.H. Bruce Jr., Dr. E. Shephard Wright, Dr. Williard L. McCloud, Dr. Hobart T. Allen, Dr. David R. Wilson, and Dr. Luritz C. Creque, all had offices in the Bruce Building at one time. The third floor was an assembly space for meetings and gatherings of large groups. 

For years, the Bruce Building was home to Model Pharmacy, which was listed in the Negro Travelers’ Green Book, which served as a guidebook for Black motorists from 1936 to 1966.  

Dr. H.R. Malloy  

A native of Winston-Salem, Dr. Henry Rembert Malloy attended local public schools before attending Johnson C. Smith University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1934. After undergrad, Malloy went on to study bacteriology at the University of Chicago. In 1939, just five years after he earned his bachelor’s, Malloy earned his doctorate from Howard University School of Medicine. Even back then, earning a doctorate in any area of study was unheard of, but Malloy was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. H.D. Malloy, who also practiced medicine.  

After a short residency at Good Samaritan Hospital in Charlotte, in 1941 Dr. Malloy was named assistant resident in surgery at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. and soon after was named chief resident in surgery.  

It didn’t take Malloy long to come back to Winston-Salem and open his own surgical practice. He is credited for being the first Black doctor in the South with a practice limited to the specialty of surgery. Dr. Malloy is also noted for performing more surgeries than any other physician in Forsyth County.  

Dr. Malloy also served as practicing surgeon at the same hospital where he interned a few years earlier, Kate B. Reynolds. He served as attending surgeon at Forsyth Memorial and Medical Park Hospitals, chief of staff at Reynolds Memorial, surgeon for the Vocational Rehabilitation Association of North Carolina, and a surgeon and instructor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. For many years Malloy also served as the college physician for Winston-Salem State University where he taught pathology and surgery 

He served on several boards as well, including the Old North State Medical Society, Twin City Medical Society, North Carolina State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Dr. Malloy was also the author or co-author of over a dozen scientific articles published by The American Journal of Surgery.  

Known for his compassion and love for the community just as much as his for surgical skill and knowledge, the land where the Malloy-Jordan East Winston Heritage Center on 7th Street was donated by Dr. Malloy.  

Local educator, April Gamble, who grew up in East Winston, said she vividly remembers visiting the Malloys with her grandmother, who was a friend of the family. Dr. Malloy had his family home built right in the community he served. Gamble said living amongst the people is what added to the legend of Dr. Malloy.  

“What set him apart was the fact that he lived in the community he served and he really cared about his community. He was down to earth and was even willing to give medical advice at his home,” Gamble said. 

Dr. Charles L. Kennedy 

A native of Charlotte and a graduate of West Charlotte High School, after high school, Dr. Charles L. Kennedy enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Upon his return home, Kennedy attended Johnson C. Smith University and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1959; from there he earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. 

After completing an internship at Kate B. Reynolds Memorial Hospital and becoming the first Black student to hold a residency at Bowman Gray School of Medicine (now Wake Forest University School of Medicine), in 1967 Dr. Kennedy opened his own pediatrics practice in East Winston to help address the needs in the city’s most underserved community.  

For more than 40 years Dr. Kennedy provided care for generations of children and teenagers. For much of the time he practiced, Dr. Kennedy was the only Black pediatrician in the city. Even to this day, many people in the community will tell you how Dr. Kennedy was their first doctor.  

Dr. Kennedy was also an avid volunteer and a big supporter of education. He created a scholarship for low-income students at his alma mater, Johnson C. Smith University, and advocated for organizations like the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). In 2003 he earned the UNCF’s President’s Award for raising more than $2 million.  

Dr. Larry Hopkins 

While doing his part to serve the families of East Winston, Dr. Kennedy also took other Black doctors under his wing, like Dr. Larry Hopkins, who was a well-known physician and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  

Dr. Hopkins enrolled at Wake Forest in the early 1970s and quickly made a name for himself on the football field. In the two years he played, Dr. Hopkins was a two-time All-ACC selection at fullback and helped lead the Demon Deacons to back-to-back winning seasons and the first ACC Championship in school history.  

In 1971 Dr. Hopkins led the ACC in rushing with 1,228 yards, a school record that still stands today.  

A true example of what it means to be a student-athlete, Dr. Hopkins performed in the classroom, earning Dean’s List distinctions all four semesters and his degree in chemistry in 1972.  

Instead of pursuing a career with the NFL with the New England Patriots, Hopkins enrolled in medical school. After earning his medical degree from Wake Forest in 1972, Hopkins completed his residency at Virginia Commonwealth University and served in the U.S. Air Force, where he attained the rank of Major.  

In 1983, Dr. Hopkins returned to Winston-Salem to practice obstetrics and gynecology. Over the years Dr. Hopkins delivered thousands of babies, including future NBA Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul. 

Dr. Hopkins was also well known for raising the level of healthcare for Black women and girls. He co-directed the Women’s Health Center, which focuses on improving prenatal care and reducing infant mortality, and he served on Today’s Woman Wellness Center’s Health Advisory Council, the Women’s Health Center Advisory Board, and was the president of the Twin City Medical Society. 

In 2018, for their dedication to the children, women and families who needed them most, Wake Forest School of Medicine renamed a mentoring program in his honor, along with Dr. Kennedy. The Kennedy-Hopkins Scholars Mentor Program pairs faculty members with physicians underrepresented in medicine who are pursuing residency and fellowship training.  

Last summer, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist renamed their facility located on E. 14th Street in honor of Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Hopkins as well. In addition to the name change, internal medicine, women’s services, a pharmacy and imaging facility were added to the already existing pediatric and occupational medicine services.  

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Brenda Latham-Sadler, Wake Forest vice dean for justice, equity, and diversity and professor of family and community medicine, said, “Drs. Kennedy and Hopkins both had such a profound impact on generations of Winston-Salem residents and by naming this building in their memory, we will always be reminded of our privilege to carry on their legacies through compassionate, patient- and family-centered care.”