Piedmont Sanatorium - Separate But Equal?

Separate But Equal?

The all-white Blue Ridge Sanatorium was established in 1920. The City of Charlottesville, Virginia actively sought to locate Blue Ridge within their community. Charlottesville paid $15,000 of the $32,000 required for the procurement of the property and funded Blue Ridge’s water supply. Piedmont, in contrast, had to hire contractors to dig its well.

Blue Ridge patients enjoyed access to University of Virginia medical staff located in the same city. Piedmont patients, on the other hand, had to travel more than 50 miles to St. Phillips Hospital in Richmond, Virginia in the event of a non-tubercular medical emergency .