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Alonzo Clifton McClennan (May 1, 1855 - April 14, 1912) was the co-founder of Charleston Hospital and Training School for Nurses, which opened in 1897. He was also the second black man appointed to United States Naval Academy as a midshipman.
Early life
McClennan was born in Columbia, South Carolina on 1 May 1855 and was raised by his uncle (Edward B. Thompson, a free black barber) after being orphaned. He began his education at the Benedict Institute in Columbia, and later became a legislative page in the South Carolina state legislature with the help of his uncle, Samuel B. Thompson, a representative. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy in 1873, but resigned. In 1880 he graduated with honors from the Howard University College of Medicine with degrees in medicine and pharmacy, and established a practice in Augusta, Georgia. In 1884 he moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
Naval Academy
McClennan met Richard H. Cain when Cain was a South Carolina State Senator and they became friends. After Cain was elected as United States Representative for South Carolina's at-large district he resolved to make appointments to the service academies and held a competitive examination in the summer of 1873. While McClennan had long hoped to become a physician, his family's inability to afford college made an appointment a promising stepping-stone. After intense preparation, McClennan placed second in the examination and accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy.
McClennan was aware of the mistreatment experienced by the first black midshipman, James H. Conyers, but experienced no overt racism during the Academy entrance examination. McClennan's appearance—he had blond hair and blue eyes and "was to all appearances a white man"—meant his race was not immediately apparent.
The year after McClennan's resignation, Henry E. Baker was appointed and also faced hazing. Baker was dismissed from the Academy in Fall 1875 for using "opprobrious language" during a mess hall fight; the harassment continued after his reinstatement by Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson, however, and Baker resigned permanently. No other blacks were appointed to the Naval Academy for the following six decades.
Medical career
Upon his arrival in Charleston, McClennan established his practice and gained an "excellent reputation as a physician". In 1892 he opened Charleston's first black drug store, the People's Pharmacy, which was a success. In 1896 McClennan and all but one of Charleston's black physicians lobbied for a hospital to serve Charleston's black population and provide them with otherwise unobtainable hospital privileges. Led by Dr. Lucy Hughes Brown, the training of black nurses began that year with theoretical lectures held in the auditorium of Wallingford Academy; attempts to hold practical training at the City Hospital and Old Folks Home were rebuffed.
The Hospital and Training School for Nurses was chartered by South Carolina in July 1897, and opened with 24 beds in a three-story building purchased for $4,500 (equivalent to $129,546.00 in present day terms). Funds for the purchase of the building and necessary equipment were secured almost entirely by local charity, including support from the Duke Endowment. A historical marker commemorating McClennan and the hospital was erected in 2010 near 135 Cannon Street in Charleston, South Carolina.
Personal life
McClennan married Ida Veronica Ridley, a schoolteacher from a prominent African American family in Augusta, Georgia, and their home was a locus of social life for black elites in Charleston, frequently hosting recitals, literary gatherings, and other social functions. The couple had three children: Maude (1885‒1976), Harriet (b. 1890), and Ridley Ulysses (1887–1921).
Dr. McClennan died in Charleston on 14 April 1912 and is buried in the Humane and Friendly Society Cemetery in Charleston.