DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to make sure you hear it right. Now, the east Texas town of Terrell gave the world a lot of things, but in 1920 it gave the world Colonel Bertram Fuller — C.B. to those who knew him — and that turned out to matter quite a bit, especially if you ever needed a doctor on the east side of Wichita Falls. Young Bertram made his way to Marshall, Texas, where he attended Wiley College.
Then he set his sights higher still — all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, and Meharry Medical College. Now, Meharry wasn't just any school. It was the first medical school in the South for African Americans, and in 1947, C.B.
Fuller earned his medical degree there. He stayed in Nashville long enough to intern at Hubbard Hospital, then pushed his education further at the University of Texas, the University of Colorado, and the University of Oklahoma. The man was serious about medicine.
Serious the way some people are serious about a calling. Back in 1937, he'd married Mildred McNairy in Kaufman, and together they built a family — three children. So there was a life being built alongside all that learning.
After his service as a physician in the Army Medical Corps, Dr. Fuller planted himself in Wichita Falls in 1948 and established a practice on the east side. And here's where the story earns its weight.
The local city-county hospital — Wichita General — had what they called the Black Wing. A separate floor on the west end, set aside for African American patients. And a large broom closet had been converted into a nursery for the children Dr.
Fuller delivered there. A broom closet. Let that settle for a moment.
And yet Dr. Fuller worked within that system, because his patients needed him to. He was able to admit patients regardless of their ethnic background to Wichita General — which itself was no small thing in that time and place.
African American physicians were not allowed admission to the Texas Medical Association. That was simply the rule — until 1955, when the racial membership requirement was revoked. And when that door finally opened, C.B.
Fuller walked through it first. He became the first African American physician admitted to the TMA. Not long after, he also became the first African American physician elected to membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians.
First, and first again. He served on U.S. District Court Judge Sarah T.
Hughes' Biracial Committee on Schools. He was elected President of the Wichita General Hospital Medical Staff in 1970. In 1988, the Wichita County Medical Society gave him their Distinguished Service Award — and it's hard to argue they were wrong.
Dr. Fuller died in 1994. The marker says he will be remembered for his courage and determination to provide quality medical care to all.
And out here on the road, rolling through Wichita County, I think that's exactly the right thing to say about a man who turned a broom closet into a nursery and a locked door into an open one — without ever once losing sight of why he showed up in the first place.
What the marker says
Born in 1920 in the east Texas town of Terrell, Colonel Bertram Fuller attended Wiley College in Marshall. Dr. Fuller then earned his medical degree in 1947 at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, the first medical school in the south for African Americans. He interned at Hubbard Hospital in Nashville and did advanced study at the University of Texas, University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma. In 1937, he married Mildred McNairy in Kaufman, and together they had three children. Following service as a physician in the Army Medical Corps, Dr. Fuller established a practice in Wichita Falls" east side in 1948. Dr. Fuller was able to admit patients, despite their ethnic background, to the local city-county hospital, Wichita General Hospital. A separate floor on the west end, known as the Black Wing, was set aside for African American patients. A large broom closet was converted into a nursery for the children delivered by Dr. Fuller. At this time, African American physicians were not allowed admission to the Texas Medical Association (TMA). However, in 1955, the racial membership requirement was revoked and Dr. Fuller became the first African American physician admitted to TMA. Along with this honor, Dr. Fuller also was the first African American physician elected to membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians. He served on U.S. District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes" Biracial Committee on Schools and was elected in 1970 as President of the Wichita General Hospital Medical staff. In 1988, he received the Wichita County Medical Society's Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Fuller died in 1994 at the age of 74 but will be remembered for his courage and determination to provide quality medical care to all. (2014)