Whittaker Memorial Hospital is a historic hospital building located in the Brookville Heights neighborhood in the East End of Newport News, Virginia. The original section was built in 1943 with additions in 1957 and 1966. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2009.

History

The earliest portion of the building has a symmetrical "T"-plan with both Moderne and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

influences. It has a concrete frame, with concrete roof and floor slabs, and curtain walls constructed of alternating bands of yellow and brown bricks. The central mass is three stories tall and has two-story wings. The Whittaker Memorial Hospital was founded in 1908 to serve the African-American population of Newport News. The hospital was built by African-American physicians and designed by African-American architects, William Henry Moses Jr. and

Charles Thaddeus Russell Charles Thaddeus Russell (June 19, 1875 – August 24, 1952) was an American architect who was one of the first two licensed African American architects in Virginia. He was the first to be licensed in Richmond, Virginia and he designed building ...

. It was originally housed in the James A. Fields House, then in a frame hospital built in 1915 before this building was constructed in 1943. The hospital closed in 1985. an
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References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Hospital buildings completed in 1943 Hospital buildings completed in 1957 Hospital buildings completed in 1966 African-American history of Virginia Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Moderne architecture in Virginia Art Deco architecture in Virginia Buildings and structures in Newport News, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Newport News, Virginia