The Someone Else’s Shoes documentary is a project highlighting trailblazers in medicine and dentistry in North Carolina who broke down barriers and paved the way for future generations, helping to increase everyone’s access to care.

Today’s doctors of color stand on the shoulders of giants like Bishop Henry Beard Delany, who saved one of the largest hospitals for Blacks on the East Coast in the early 1900s, Dr. Paul McGill, the first Black orthodontist in Charlotte, Dr. Kenneth Chambers, one of the first board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologists in Charlotte, and Dr. Brenda Armstrong who is one of the first black students at Duke Medical School. Through in-depth interviews with experts, archival footage and images, the film tells the story of these pioneers and the challenges they faced in their pursuit of equal access to quality healthcare.

Erected in 1896, St. Agnes Hospital served as a training school for Black nurses and as the only hospital serving African Americans regionally for many years. The hospital and training school were founded by Saint Augustine’s University’s fourth president, Rev. Aaron B. Hunter, and his wife, Sarah. Sarah Hunter was the hospital’s first superintendent, treasurer, and fundraiser.

The training school’s initial 18-month curriculum included instruction in sewing, cleaning, and cooking. Most of the Black nurses who fought in World War II were trained at St. Agnes. After being turned away at other hospitals, former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson died at St. Agnes from injuries he sustained in a car accident in 1946. The hospital closed its doors in 1961, but its remnants, in the shape of a cross, remain standing. The site is a national landmark.

Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) is a four-year liberal arts Historically Black College and University (HBCU) that is affiliated with the Episcopal Church that offers more than 25 undergraduate degree programs and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Founded in 1867, the University’s mission is to sustain a learning community in which students can prepare academically, socially and spiritually for leadership in a complex, diverse and rapidly changing world.

For more information, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 919.516.4182.

All proceeds will go towards the St. Agnes Museum Development Project at Saint Augustine’s University.