Lucy Byard

[Gregory Matthews]

The story of Lucy Byard and her 1943 death is probably well known to the few within Adventism who have given study to our past history.  But, it is a story that deserves telling today for the lessons that we may still need to learn.  I am aware that I have previously mentioned this in a previous post in this forum.  Recent publications have caused me to mention it again.

https://atoday.org/racist-treatment-of-lucy-byard-recognized-for-sparking-change-in-adventist-church/

and

https://www.columbiaunion.org/content/march-2019-feature-lucy-byard-story?fbclid=IwAR1PERA8oq6b6Tb5fdhbA44W8HzNC48lUpzpVoV3GF8ZSa-TOJ0tn_qvPYQ

and

https://columbiaunionvisitor.com/2019/editorial-lessons-lucy-byard?fbclid=IwAR3Ds9D2xDGb1EoushMmhOL9rtXo51P8lpXFPe73oDfFRwgCgGxwAnCCo1E

and

https://www.facebook.com/PastorTedWilson/posts/4498763976846126

 

[GHansen]

Perhaps coincidental but Glendale, California, until the 70's, included the Voice of Prophecy, Glendale Sanitarium, the Southern California and Pacific Union conference offices, Glendale Academy and an Adventist Book Center. It was at one time the West Coast headquarters of the KKK. Wonder about the history of the Glendale Sanitarium vis-a-vis African Americans.

The Meeting at the Eighth Street Church: How Whiteness Oozed into Adventist Culture (spectrummagazine.org)

 

 

 

[B/W Photodude]

On 12/16/2021 at 4:16 PM, Gregory Matthews said:

The story of Lucy Byard and her 1943 death is probably well known to the few within Adventism who have given study to our past history.  But, it is a story that deserves telling today for the lessons that we may still need to learn.  I am aware that I have previously mentioned this in a previous post in this forum.

I recall the story when presented here before. However, these articles brought to light facts I don't recall being mentioned before. While it is regrettable that this happened, policy did get changed. 

One of the facts that did not get brought out and which led to the assumption that the sending of Lucy Byard led to her untimely death was shown in the links above to have been in error. It also was not to my memory brought out exactly what her condition was when she arrived at the Washington Sanitarium. 

Lucy Byard arrived at the San with advanced liver cancer and cachexia (a wasting away which often accompanies cancer).  Even today, as it would have been even worse in the 40s, this condition is terminal. 

Lucy Byard lived 38 days past her transfer to the hospital for the blacks of the Washington area. That hospital today is part of what we now know as Howard University. I would almost argue that it was her good fortune to go there. We cannot know when Lucy Byard would have passed away if she had stayed at the Washington Sanitarium, but it could well have been much sooner.

Obviously, this practice of segregation should never have been a practice of an SDA related organization, but it has been corrected. But for some reason, people seem to feel they need to continue getting political milage out of events from eighty years ago or even much longer. 

[B/W Photodude]

3 hours ago, GHansen said:

Perhaps coincidental but Glendale, California, until the 70's, included the Voice of Prophecy, Glendale Sanitarium, the Southern California and Pacific Union conference offices, Glendale Academy and an Adventist Book Center. It was at one time the West Coast headquarters of the KKK.

Well, they were all from the same town, they had to be a bunch of racists. Perhaps they even went out burning crosses after a day of doing gospel work.

3 hours ago, GHansen said:

Wonder about the history of the Glendale Sanitarium vis-a-vis African Americans.

Seriously? Exactly what I am talking about. Create guilt by innuendo. 

3 hours ago, GHansen said:

(spectrummagazine.org)

Does Spectrum ever publish anything that is not trying to trash the church or futher a leftist cause?

[GHansen]

28 minutes ago, B/W Photodude said:

Well, they were all from the same town, they had to be a bunch of racists. Perhaps they even went out burning crosses after a day of doing gospel work.

My recollection is that Glendale was also a "sundowner town"  so nothing would have been accomplished by burning crosses after dark. 

The Lucy Byard is unfortunate relative to the racist issues it illuminates. I agree that her death from a terminal illness weeks later probably was unrelated to her lack of welcome at the institution she preferred. The psychological blow she received, hopefully, threw her more firmly into the arms of Jesus. 

If my L.A. history serves me well, the White Memorial Hospital, not far from Glendale, was more or less, in the center of the Los Angeles Jewish  community. What is now Caesar Chavez Blvd. was then called Brooklyn Avenue. The Jewish community eventually moved west into the Fairfax district. There is still an orthodox Jewish cemetery in the heart of what is now largely a Latinx area.

 

 

[phkrause]

Thanks for some of your insights GHansen, it's appreciated, at least by me!!

[GHansen]

22 minutes ago, phkrause said:

Thanks for some of your insights GHansen, it's appreciated, at least by me!!

If you are interested in the Jewish history of Los Angeles, here's more than you might care to know. This material is likely  more accurate than my recollections:

Los Angeles (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

[phkrause]

Thanks GHansen, not that I know every single detail, but I'm well aware of my Jewish bro's and sis's!!! I learned a lot from my Jewish family! And thanks for that link!!