King's Daughters' Hospital-View 2

Hospitals

In 1896 a small band of women formed the Bethany Circle of the King's Daughters. Their goal was to make garments for the poor and give assistance to families in distress. It soon became apparent that the needs of the community were far beyond their abilities to provide. They soon decided a real hospital with rooms where the sick and homeless could be cared for was their goal. They invited others from all the churches in the city to assist in "the labor of love for suffering humanity" and soon over 100 people had joined them. The next step was funding for their noble project and they found citizens most generous. For instance, Mrs. Drucilla Cravens purchased a home on Presbyterian Avenue and donated it as site for the new hospital. The "little hospital who could" was on its way! In 1915 ground was broken for a new building at its present location at 112 Presbyterian or, as it is now called, One King's Daughters' Drive. There have been several additions to the present facility, the major ones being in 1936-37, 1957-59, 1966, 1971, 1983 and in the 1990s. In 1984-85 a heliport was added. During the years, several structures around the hospital have been acquired for expansion and office space.

Harry Lemen, photographer

Madison Courier; Historical Files

Picture taken 1927

Madison-Jefferson County Public Library

Permission to reproduce this image for other than personal use must be requested from the Director of the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library. Please contact at 420 W. Main Street Madison, IN 47250 (812) 265-2744

Photograph taken with Eastman-Kodak Brownie Camera No. 2C model A, using No. 130 film. Resulting negative (2.875in x 4.875in) scanned at 1200 DPI using a Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL. Online jpeg image file saved at 72 DPI 800 to 1000 pixels on long edge.

Still image

"Lemen1089-kdh2"