DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the year is 1893, and in Temple, Texas, a group of women decided they'd had just about enough of watching their neighbors suffer without care. They organized the Temple Charter of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons — a Protestant ecumenical group — and their mission was clear: provide medical care to indigent citizens.
No ifs, no buts, no turning folks away at the door. These weren't women who sat around waiting for someone else to step up. They were educated, they were organized, and they meant business.
So they rented rooms in a small house — not a grand institution, mind you, just rooms in a house — and in 1896, they opened King's Daughters Hospital. Think about that for a moment. Rooms in a small house.
That's where it started. Then in 1898 came another milestone: a board of trustees was elected, which appointed the first staff physicians, and a woman named Cornelia Parsons stepped into the role of hospital superintendent. The pieces were coming together.
Now, the organization itself eventually stepped back — by 1920, the King's Daughters had discontinued their support of the hospital facility. But here's the thing that the marker wants you to sit with: from its earliest days, King's Daughters Hospital was considered ahead of its time. Rooms in a rented house, run largely by women, built for those who couldn't afford care.
And it remains, to this day, a major provider of affordable modern medical care. Some things that start small have a way of outlasting everything that doubted them.
What the marker says
The Temple Charter of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons, a Protestant ecumenical group, was formed in 1893 to provide medical care to indigent citizens. The group, made up largely of educated women, rented rooms in a small house and opened King's Daughters Hospital in 1896. In 1898 a board of trustees was elected which appointed the first staff physicians; Cornelia Parsons became hospital superintendent. By 1920 the King's Daughters organization had discontinued support of the hospital facility. Considered ahead of its time from its earliest days, King's Daughters Hospital remains a major provider of affordable modern medical care. (1998)