I was born at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in March of 1939. I was named after (Gwendolyn Turner), a nurse in the OB/GYN Department, who helped attend to me after I was born. I am the 4th of 14 children born to my parents, all of whom were born at HGP, except for their first two children, who were born in 1935 and 1936 at Barnes Hospital before HGP was built.

At that time (1939), my parents lived on Goode Ave., in a house shared with my paternal grandparents, which was located approximately 3 blocks away from the hospital. We moved from that location to the 4300 of Maffit when I was (I think) 2 years old. (We lived in "The Ville" until I was 6 years old). 

 

As the family was progressively growing, we then moved into a newly developed (living-room, kitchen, 4-bedroom, 1-full bath, a utility room, 2 and 3-story Apt) housing complex in downtown St. Louis, which was named "Carr Square Village." It was the first housing Complex built in the City of St. Louis "for blacks," which offered 3 and 4 bedroom apartments with shared front and backyards. The front yards had attached small brick patio-type sitting areas. The backyards were the length of each building, with a  concrete sidewalk separating it from the yard of the building across from it. At the end of these buildings were "play-yards" with sliding boards, "see-saws" and merry-go-rounds for the children to play on.They also provided fenced-in trash dumpsters at the end of each building. This was a very welcomed and appreciated housing complex, which was rewarded in the earlier years by producing many of St. Louis' black postal workers, government workers, and professional people, including one of HGP's black doctors by the name of Dr. Lee Blount. Our parents were so proud of him when he sold the St. Louis Argus Newspaper to us every week,  telling of his ambition to become a doctor; especially when he became a doctor at HGP and started treating family members and neighbors who knew of his ambition to become a doctor.

At the age of 15, I also worked at HGP with a blind vendor, selling coffee and donuts to staff and visitors. 

 

After growing up, getting married and having kids of my own (5 of 6 of my children were born at HGP), I became interested in the Medical Field, in which I became Medical Transcriptionist. This career placed me in the arena to transcribe the dictation of medical reports for many of the black doctors who received their expertise in Medical specialty, Surgical Specialty, OB/GYN and Radiological Specialty, from serving at "The Black" Homer G. Phillips Hospital. All of these doctors were very knowledgeable in their fields, and I was the recipient of most of my medical knowledge through working with them at various other hospitals, and actually for some of them (as an employee working side-by-side in their private offices).

 

Therefore, I feel that the existence of Homer G. Phillips Hospital had an impact on my life in many ways.

 

Submitted By, 

 

G. Harmon