The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 60

KOKOMO TRIBUNE MILLENNIUM 111920-1939 St. Joseph's has changed, but the mission's stayed the same SUNDAY, MAY 2,1999 By JENNIFER CUNNINGHAM For the Kokomo Tribune According to Ned Booher's book "Kokomo: A Pictorial History," before 1904 there wasn't a hospital in Kokomo. For some time, local doctors tried but with no avail to convince the city council to help establish a hospital to meet the city's growing healthcare demands. Eventually, out of desperation, the doctors led by Dr, Edgar Cox, started a hospital of their own, on North Market Street; it continued until 1908. After the venture failed, in 1913 went to the Sisters of St.

Joseph in Tipton to ask for their assistance. The Sisters of St. Joseph is a religious that originated in France and had been in the area since 1888. According to Mary Baker, director of community relations for Saint Joseph Hospital Health Center, Good Samaritan Hospital was opened on Vaile Avenue. The hospital opened with just 12 beds.

With Catholics and Jews being added to the Ku Klux Klan's message of hate, the sisters endured animosity from the group. Good Samaritan Hospital was the object of threats as well as the site for cross-burnings on more than one occasion. However, the sisters fought on, never turning away a patient on the basis of his or her ability to pay or creed. In fact, according to Baker, the sisters even took in a Klansman after a rally one night when he was injured after a fall from his horse. Apparently, the ambulance door opened before the nuns to reveal a klansman in full dress "groaning and writhing before them," but the sisters did not refuse to treat him.

In the midst of their "Trade with Klansmen" campaign, the KKK had a growing distaste for Catholic healthcare. They felt it was a disgrace to have to receive medical care from a Catholic facility. Baker said in 1924 the KKK decided to have a parade to raise money for their own hospital. They reportedly carried a large American flag during the parade to catch donations and netted roughly $50,000. The hospital was completed and named 'We're always looking to provide services and programs that are going to meet the needs of our community' Mary Baker, community relations director, Saint Joseph Hospital Health Center Howard County Hospital.

The county never succeeded in getting the operation off the ground, and the hospital eventually went under in 1935. In an ironic twist of fate, the sisters later purchased the site and reopened it in 1926 as St. Joseph Hospital. The nuns were rewarded for their open- door policy for healthcare. In those days, many hospitals required payment upfront or on a daily basis.

J. Henry Fisse Jr. was refused admission into the county hospital' because, according to Baker, he was thought to be penniless. He was referred by the physician there to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was readily taken in. As it turns out, he really wasn't a beggar at all; he handled real estate; upon his death, he left a donation to Good Samaritan.

It was with his donation that the Sisters of St. Joseph were able to open St. Joseph Memorial Hospital at its current site. In 1986, the hospital changed its name to Saint Joseph Hospital Health Center. In' 1994, the Sisters of St.

Joseph transferred sponsorship to the Daughters of Charity. Despite many changes and renovations over the years, Baker said the hospital's mission remains the same. 'They had a mission, and that was healthcare," Baker said. "And that mission continues today." The hospital is always looking to respond to the community's rapidly changing and diversifying healthcare needs, especially those of the next century. "We're always looking to provide services and programs that are going to meet the needs of our community," Baker said.

"We've seen the trend change from inpatient care to predominantly outpatient care, and that's really what our new project, the Surgery Center, is all about." It is just one example of the improvements the hospital continues to make as it approaches the new millennium. Another is the Pediatric Specialty Clinic. Saint Joseph Hospital Health Center has worked bring pediatric specialists from Indianapolis to Kokomo to see patients here in an effort to keep healthcare close to home and more accessible. Kokomo site of largest KKK gathering in history According to Ned Booher, author of "Howard County: A Pictorial History," on July 4, 1923 Kokomo was the site for the largest Ku Klux Klan conclave ever assembled in the United States. Reportedly, a crowd of more than 100,000 gathered just west of Kokomo and then went to Malfalfa Park to witness the induction of D.C.

Stephenson as the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. The rally was also accompanied by the largest parade remembered in Kokomo history. Originally, the Klan started in the South after the Oil War klansmen wanted to intimidate African-Americans and those who supported the rights of the newly freed slaves. The name originates from the Greek word kukloi, meaning circle, and since most early members of (he KKK were of Scotch-Irish descent, the word Klan was added. The second KKK was organized in Georgia in 191 and'soon spread throughout the nation, adding Catholics, Jews and immigrants to its hate list.

During the 1920s, the Klan was working for heightened visibility and looking to gain in popularity; Kokomo was a "hotbed" of Klan activity. Booher said Stephenson came to head the mightiest Klan group in the nation; proportionately, Indiana probably boasted more Klan support than any other state in the union, and during its glory days the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed political power as well as financial influence through its TWK "Trade with Klansmen" campaign. It didn't last for long. In 1925, Stephenson was convicted of second-degree murder in the attack and severe beating death of Madge Oberholtzer, a literacy program employee. Before he was sent to prison, he ended up "squealing" on many klansmen and corrupt politicians, landing a number of Indiana officials behind bars with him.

Stephenson's arrest and the tale of Klan corruption eventually led to a decline in the group's mainstream popularity. While the group still exists, its power and influence in politics and business has dwindled, to say the least. Incidentally, the site of the infamous Klan rally in Kokomo is now Camp Tycony, a camp run by the YMCA for youth of all creeds. The Rules Of Racing Prepare Qualify Win Prepare by spending $25.00 or more at any store in the KOKOMO MALL Qualify for the starting grid by answering 3 questions regarding the Indy Racing League If you answer correctly and have a bit of luck you may and experience. 23.0 action Entries will be accepted from April 25 May 19 Winners will be notified on May 20th 1999 Entry forms available at must be 18 or older to enter.

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