History Of The Shriners Hospitals
How It All Began - Freeland Kendrick
Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet
In 1919, Freeland Kendrick (Lu Lu Shriners, Philadelphia) was the Imperial Potentate-elect for the 363,744 Shriners. He had long been searching for a cause for the thriving group to support. In a visit to the Scottich Rite Hospital for Crippled Children in Atlanta, be became aware of the overwhelming orthopaedic needs of children in North America. As Imperial Potentate in 1919 and 1920, he traveled more than 150,000 miles, visiting a majority of the 146 temples to campaign for an official philanthropy.
1920 Imperial Session
Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet
At the June 1920 Imperial Session in Portland, Oregon, Kendrick proposed establishing Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children (now Shriners Hospitals for Children), to be supported by a $2 yearly assessment from each Shriner (now $5 per year).
Conservative Shriners expressed doubts about assuming this kind of responsibility. Prospects for approval were dimming when Noble Forrest Adair (Yaarab Shriners, Atlanta) rose to speak:
"I was lying in bed yesterday morning, about 4 o'clock ... and some poor fellow who had strayed from the rest of the band ... stood down there under the window for 25 minutes playing 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.' "
He said that when he awoke later, "I thought of the wandering minstrel, and I wondered if there were not a deep significance in the tune that he was playing for Shriners, 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.' "
He noted, "While we have spent money for songs and spent money for bands, it's time for the Shrine to spend money for humanity. I want to see this thing started. Let's get rid of all the technical objections. And if there is a Shriner in North America," he continued, "who objects to having paid the two dollars after he has seen the first crippled child helped, I will give him a check back for it myself."
When he was through, Noble Adair sat down to thunderous applause. The whole tone of the session had changed. There were other speakers, but the decision had already been reached. The resolution was passed unanimously.
A committee was chosen to determine the site and personnel for the Shrinres Hospital. After months of work, research and debate, the committee concluded that there should be not just one hospital but a network of hospitals throughout North America. It was an idea that appealed to Shriners, who liked to do things in a big and colorful way. When the committee brought the proposal to the 1921 Imperial Session in Des Moines, Iowa, it too was passed.
First Hospital
Taken From The SONA Short History Booklet
Before the June 1922 Imperial Session, the cornerstone was in place for the first Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Shreveport, LA. The rules were simple: To be admitted, a child must be from a family unable to pay for the orthopaedic treatment he or she would receive (this is no longer a requirement), be under 14 years of age (later increased to 18) and be, in the opinion of the chief of staff, someone whose condition could be helped.
The Shriners Hospitals network is supervised by members of the Board of Trustees, who are elected at the annual meeting of the hospital corporation. Each hospital operates under the supervision of a local Board of Governors, a chief of staff and an administrator. Members of the boards are Shriners, who serve without pay.
The network of orthopaedic hospitals grew as follows; Shreveport, Sept, 16, 1922; Honolulu, Jan. 2, 1923; Twin Cities, march 12, 1023; San Francisco, June 16, 1923 (relocated to Sacramento in 1997); Portland, jan. 15, 1924; St. Louis, April 8, 1924; Spokane, Nov. 15, 1924; Salt Lake City, Jan. 22, 1925; Montreal, Feb. 18, 1925; Springfield, Feb. 21, 1925; Chicago, March 20, 1926; Philadelphia, June 24, 1926; Lexington, Nov. 1 1926; Greenville, Sept. 1, 1927; Mexico City, March 10, 1945; Houston, Feb. 1, 1952; Los Angeles, Feb. 25, 1952; Winnipeg, March 16, 1952 (closed Aug. 12, 1977); Erie, April 1, 1967; Tampa, Oct. 16,1985, and Sacramento, Calif., April 14, 1997.
The first patient to be admitted in 1922 was a little girl with a clubfoot, who had learned to walk on the top of her foot rather than the sole. The first child to be admitted at the Twin Cities hospital was a boy with polio. Since that time, approximately 835,000 children have been treated at eht 22 Shriners Hospitals. Surgical techniques developed in Shriners Hospitals have become standard in the orthopaedic world. Thousands of children have been fitted with arm and leg braces and artificial limbs, most of them made at the hospitals be expert technicians.
To read more about the history of the Shriners, visit our Evolution of Shriners page.