Oral history interview with Louisville physician Jesse Bell conducted on July 28, 1979 by Olivia Frederick. Dr. Bell discusses his early life and education, including his training at Alcorn College, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College. He discusses his involvement with the Red Cross Hospital, a black-run hospital in Louisville that was known as Community Hospital starting in 1972. (The hospital, founded in 1899, closed in 1975.) Dr. Bell became involved with the hospital in the early 1940s, and discusses the developments there, including the institution of a nurses' training program, integration, fundraising, and other issues. He discusses the clientele of the hospital as well as the care they received. He also talks about the loss to the black community at the closing of the hospital, and the apparent lack of loyalty the community had to the institution. He discusses Hattie Bishop Speed, as a person and as a supporter of the hospital.

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Audiocassette tape number 773, African American Oral History Collection, Oral History Center, University of Louisville Archives and Records Center.

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Forms part of online collection: African American Community Interviews, Oral History Center, University of Louisville Archives and Records Center