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Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community

Through the lens of women’s activism, Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community, marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Alexandria Infirmary – today’s INOVA Alexandria Hospital.
Page updated on December 10, 2024 at 12:29 PM

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Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community

Alexandria Hospital, Duke Street 2018
Alexandria Hospital, Duke Street 1918.

This 2023-24 exhibition marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Alexandria Infirmary -- today's Inova Alexandria Hospital. Women established and sustained the hospital by fostering community support, making it one of Alexandria’s most community-based enterprises.

Healthcare in Alexandria took a big step forward when a group of Alexandria women led by Julia Johns met to organize the Infirmary in December 1872. Through their efforts, townspeople were no longer required to go to Richmond or Washington, D.C. to receive hospital care.

Alexandria, VA, December 12th, 1872
At a meeting of ladies called by Miss Julia Johns to meet in the lecture room of St. Paul’s P.E. Church in this City, with a view to the formation of a Society, to establish and control a Hospital for the sick among the respectable laboring classes.  There were present, the following named persons:

Miss Julia JohnsMrs. John Stuart
Miss Lucy DorseyMrs. G.Y. Worthington
Miss M.V. SmithMrs. D.F. Sprigg
Rev. Dr. NortonGeorge R. Hill

-- Minutes Book, Alexandria Infirmary

Julia Johns’ group became the Board of Managers, also called the Board of Lady Managers. From the institution’s beginning and throughout its history to the present, women have played a key role in the hospital’s administration, patient care, and support.

Newspaper clipping
Alexandria Gazette December 13, 1872

Learn More

Oral Histories with TWIG and the Board of Lady Managers

Alexandria Legacies, the Alexandria Oral History Program, was developed through the City of Alexandria’s Office of Historic Alexandria in the early 1980s. Today, staff and volunteers are actively conducting interviews and preparing transcriptions. Oral history broadens the study of the past in areas where there are no written documents or physical artifacts.

TWIG, The Junior Auxiliary of Inova Alexandria Hospital

  • Former TWIG Presidents: 
    Jocie Kazanjian (1990-91)
    Helenmarie Shipp (1991-92)
    Mary Kasik (1992-93)
  • Candace Beane
  • Julia Brasfield
  • Reba Burns
  • Anita Carson
  • Marilyn Harris
  • Kathy Hirsch
  • Margaret Johnson
  • Julie Robben Lineberry
  • Linda Lovell
  • Sameera "Seema" Nawaz
  • Jane Ring
  • Starlet Zarek


Board of Lady Managers

  • Cynthia Puskar and Mary Ryan

Alexandria Hospital in "Out of the Attic"

“Out of the Attic” is published each week in the Alexandria Times newspaper. These articles appear with the permission of the Alexandria Times and were authored by staff of the Office of Historic Alexandria and invited guests.

  • Old Alexandria Hospital. March 12, 2009.
  • A long history of healthcare firsts. October 24, 2019.
  • Women fundraise for healthcare.  March 17, 2022.
  • 'Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community'. April 14, 2022.
  • Julia Johns and the Alexandria Infirmary. March 7, 2024.

Acknowledgements

Donors

Lead Partner

Inova Health System

 

Benefactor

The Twig

 

Providers ($500-$1000)

Robyn M. Nichols

Janet Hawkins & David Wormser

Gretchen & David Bulova

Amy Jackson

 

Caregivers ($150-$300)

Kathy & Larry Hirsch

Michael and Ann Hobbs

Amy Bertsch

Jeanne Defliese

Michelle Walter

MaryAnne Beatty and Tom Coello

Del Pepper

Karen Ulfers

Peter Pennington & Mary Frances Jetton

Carol Chiasson

Colleen Dougherty

Tom & Emily Soapes

 

Supporters ($100)

Emily Baker

Christina Brennan

Al Cox

Peggy Harlow

Abby Horrell

Jennifer Kilmer

Gregory & Kristin Lloyd

Linda Lovell

Richard Merritt

Krystyn Moon

Richard Owens

Ted Pulliam

Charles and Janet Reimer

Sharon Rennert

Laura Selene Rockefeller

Gail C Rothrock

Mary Schoen

Moira Skinner

Danny & Nancy Smith

Amy Vander Vliet

Patricia Washington

Patricia White

Esther White

Ivy Whitlatch

Liz & Geoff Williams

Matt & Susan Williams

Donald  Williams

Justin Wilson

Leslie Ziegler

Spring2Action donors

 

Acknowledgements

Alexandria Black History Museum

Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections

Bishop Payne Library, Virginia Theological Seminary

The Board of Lady Managers

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia Health System

Inova Alexandria Hospital

Inova Health Foundation

The Twig

 

Candace Beane

MaryAnne Beatty

Emily Chuma

Tom Collelo

Jennifer Drake

Alexandra Edwards

Barbie Beggs Poole Frank

Derrick Greene

Greer Christensen-Gibbons

Janet Hawkins

Elizabeth Hickey

Sara Higgins

Kathy Hirsch

Shannon Hiskey

Colleen Hughes

Rebecca Jackson

Jennifer McGihon Johnson

Linda Lovell

Juná Mackey-Padilla and the Mackey family

Lori Powell

Cynthia Puskar

Melissa Riddy

James Rubino

Mary Ryan

Mary Schoen

Jennie Trapasso

Charlotte Tsoucalas

 

Historic Alexandria Staff

Gretchen Bulova

Deborah Coblenz

Susan Cumbey

Audrey Davis

Francesco De Salvatore

Terilee Edwards-Hewitt

Melanie Gonzalez

James Holloway

Jennifer Lane

Daniel Lee, Ph.D.

Kristin Lloyd

Liz Williams

Diane Zazzera

 

Installation

Costume & Textile Specialists

Explus Inc.

Liberty Language Services

Alexandria Hospital: Women Mobilize the Community

This exhibition marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Alexandria Infirmary -- today's Inova Alexandria Hospital. Women established and sustained the hospital by fostering community support, making it one of Alexandria’s most community-based enterprises.

The exhibition was held at Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum in 2023-2024.

Introduction

Founding and Facilities

Patient Care

Community Support

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