Daisy Hill Northcross
A middle-aged African-American woman, hair cropped to chin length, wearing a dress with a surplice neckline and pearls
Daisy Hill Northcross, from a 1942 book
BornDecember 9, 1881
Montgomery, Alabama, US
DiedJanuary 10, 1956 (aged 75)
Detroit, Michigan, US
Occupation(s)Physician, hospital administrator
Known forCo-founder of Detroit's Mercy General Hospital in 1917

Daisy Hill Northcross (December 9, 1881 – January 10, 1956) was an American physician and hospital administrator, based in Detroit, Michigan.

Early life

Daisy L. Hill was born in Montgomery, Alabama, the daughter of William M. Hill and Frances Fair Hill.[1][2][3] She trained as a teacher in Montgomery in 1899, then earned a bachelor's degree at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1902, and completed her medical degree in 1913 at Bennett Medical College in Chicago.[4] She was the second Black woman to apply for a medical license in Alabama.[5]

Career

Northcross taught elocution and vocal music as a young woman. She and her husband ran a sanitarium in Alabama.[2] They moved from Montgomery to Detroit in 1916, as part of the Great Migration.[6][7] The following year opened the city's first Black-owned and operated hospital, Detroit Mercy General Hospital, slightly before the establishment of the larger Dunbar Hospital.[8][9] They also ran a drugstore, a hotel,[10] and a nurses' training program.[11]

Daisy Northcross took over the hospital's management when her husband was fatally stabbed by a tenant in 1933.[12] She was assisted by other medically trained members of her family, including her nephew Remus G. Robinson,[13] her son David, and his wife. She was also active in church and club activities in Detroit,[14][15][16] and in the YWCA.[1][17] She judged a Healthiest Baby Contest in 1954.[18]

Personal life

Daisy Hill married a fellow Alabama-born doctor, David Caneen Northcross, in 1909.[2] They had three children, Gloria,[19][20] David, and Wilson. Their son David Jr. (1917–2009) also became a physician in Detroit, and his wife Ophelia Burnett Northcross (1926–2019) was a nurse.[21][22] Daisy Hill Northcross died in 1956, aged 75 years, after abdominal surgery in Detroit.[11][23]

References

  1. 1 2 Who's who in Colored America. Who's Who in Colored America Corporation. 1942. pp. 381, 386.
  2. 1 2 3 Mather, Frank Lincoln (1915). Who's who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent ; Vol. 1. p. 206.
  3. ↑ Beckford, Geraldine Rhoades (2013). Biographical Dictionary of American Physicians of African Ancestry, 1800-1920. Africana Homestead Legacy Pb. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-937622-18-3.
  4. ↑ "Announcing the Re-Opening of Mercy Hospital". The Detroit Tribune. 1946-11-09. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "A Negro Woman An Applicant for License". The Montgomery Times. 1914-01-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Dr. Stewart Leaves for Detroit". The Emancipator. 1918-03-02. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Johannson, Nsenga Lee. "Viewing African-American history through the lens of health: The Great Migration and African Americans in Detroit, 1916–1940" (PhD dissertation, University of Michigan 2004): 92. via ProQuest
  8. ↑ Greenidge, R. (1936-04-04). "The Rise of Medicine in Detroit". The Detroit Tribune. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Mercy Hospital". Black Bottom Digital Archive. Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  10. ↑ "Suit Against Hotel Lost by Former Lodger". Detroit Tribune. December 17, 1938. p. 2. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  11. 1 2 Boyd, Herb (June 22, 2017). "The medical Northcross family of Detroit". Amsterdam News. Archived from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  12. ↑ "Physician Fatally Stabbed". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1933-01-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Mercy Hospital Remodeled and Conducted Under New Manager". The Tribune Independent of Michigan. July 28, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  14. ↑ "Woman's Day to be Observed at St. Peters Church". The Detroit Tribune. 1936-05-16. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Buzzing Club No. 6". The Tribune Independent of Michigan. 1934-09-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Dr. Northcross is New Era Hostess". The Michigan Chronicle. November 18, 1939. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Chronicling America.
  17. ↑ "'YW' Board to Hold Night Meetings". The Detroit Tribune. 1936-03-14. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "First Prize of $300 to Winner". The Detroit Tribune. 1954-12-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Thunder on the Social Front". The Detroit Tribune. 1942-12-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Dr. Northcross Feted at Surprise Birthday Party". The Michigan Chronicle. December 19, 1942. p. 16. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Chronicling America.
  21. ↑ "Ophelia Northcross". Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive. August 19, 1998. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  22. ↑ "Ophelia Burnett Northcross, a Pioneering Woman" (PDF). Historic Boston-Edison Association Newsletter: 7. 2019.
  23. ↑ "Northcross Rites at Plymouth". Detroit Tribune. January 21, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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