Dr. Tekla Ali Johnson is using her expertise to make a difference in the Union Community. Last month the National Park Service awarded a grant on which she served as one of the lead writers. Johnson is serving as co-project manager on a $750,000 grant for the Union Community Hospital Preservation Project at the L.W. Long Community Resource Center here in downtown Union.
The Resource Center is a non-profit that advocates for the promotion of African American history in Union County. It is housed in the former Union Community Hospital, which was founded by Dr. Lawrence W. Long to treat African American patients in Union during segregation. It was also used as a teaching hospital where other black doctors completed training. The African American Civil Rights grant that the center just received will provide funding for repairs to the roof, foundation, HVAC, and other areas of need. When the project is completed in 2027, the archives and exhibits in the space will be expanded.
Dr. Johnson has extensive experience with both grant writing and archiving, and wrote several historical grants during her time at a history professor at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC. She says that the Resource Center holds a wealth of historical records that students and community members alike can learn from. In Spring 2024, she and students in her Public History class organized medical records that had been left in the building from the hospital’s years of operation. “This space will provide the opportunity for students to research local history using primary material,” she said. “Community members can also learn about their family history. It will help expand knowledge about a part of the community that may have been left out of the mainstream.”
This grant was written as part of a partnership between the Resource Center, the WeGOJA Foundation, and some members of the USC Union faculty. Dr. Johnson hopes work like this will foster a symbiotic relationship between the university and the community. “Everywhere I work, I try to give back to the community,” she said.
For more information about the Center and the UCH Preservation Project, visit https://www.drlawrencewlongresourcecenter.org/ or contact Timika M. Wilson, Project Manager, at Timika.m.wilson@gmail.com
Dr. Johnson can be reached to discuss the historical value of the hospital archives at Tekla@mailbox.sc.edu
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