Event date: 10/24/2021 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Export event Tuesday, October 12, 2021 / Categories: Events, ISHS Event, General News Dr. Lewis and the Lewis Sanatorium Historical Marker Dedication Saline County Historical Society, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, and the Illinois State Historical Society Dr. James Henry Lewis (1888-1963), pioneering physician will be honored with a marker at 407 East Walnut Street in Harrisburg, IL at the site of the former Lewis Sanatorium. The dedication is at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 24th. Location: 407 East Walnut Street Harrisburg, IL (Map) Dr. Lewis and the Lewis Sanatorium Pioneering Black physician James Henry Lewis (1888–1963) was born in North Carolina. Because of limited educational opportunities available to Black students at the time and place, he moved to Illinois, where he worked to put himself through both Wheaton Academy and Wheaton College. After graduation from Meharrey Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and an internship at City Hospital in St. Louis, Dr. Lewis learned of the need for a Black physician in Harrisburg, then the largest city in southeastern Illinois. He moved to Harrisburg in 1923 and, owing to the need for a hospital to treat Black patients in that segregated era in 1927, he opened his own hospital – The Lewis Sanatorium at 407 East Walnut Street. There the doctor welcomed all patients without regard to race, Doctor Lewis was highly respected in the community, and Lewis Street in Harrisburg was named in honor. Saline County Historical Society, The William G. Pomeroy Foundation, and the Illinois State Historical Society Print Tags: African Americans Historical Markers Physicians Related articles Illinois Heritage, March–April 2023 Illinois Heritage, January–February 2023 Illinois Heritage, November–December 2022 Illinois Heritage, May–June 2022 Illinois Heritage, March–April 2022 Please login or register to post comments.