Bell, Jesse B. Papers, 1924-1998
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Jesse B. Bell
Title: Papers, 1924-1998
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 1 cubic foot and 1 audiocassette
Locator Number: Mss. A B433
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of correspondence between Dr. Bell and numerous boards and organizations to which he belonged over a long medical career in Louisville, Ky. Included are letters of appreciation, appointment to various boards and hospital staffs, and congratulatory cards and letters for several local and national awards. A large collection of award certificates and a series of minutes from meetings of the Louisville Lung Association and the Louisville Memorial Hospital Board of Governors are also included. Photographs, depicting events in the life of Dr. Bell and his wife, Geneva Howard Bell, have been transferred to the photographic collection. Some of them include persons of national importance, such as Roy Wilkins and Muhammad Ali.
Biographical Note
Jesse Bennett Bell was born in Tallulah, Louisiana, 20 April 1904. He received a B.S. degree from Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga., and an M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn., in 1931. After practicing for two years in Frankfort, Ky., he contracted tuberculosis and moved to Louisville where he could receive better care. While recovering, he decided to devote his career to public health, specializing in chest diseases. He married Geneva Howard in 1936. He worked with the Waverly Hills Sanitarium and the Health Department of Louisville. He later served as medical director of the Red Cross Hospital from 1942 to1946. He then opened a part-time private practice in Louisville and was appointed to the medical staff of several hospitals. Dr. Bell initiated the first program in Kentucky for screening disadvantaged persons for high blood pressure. He served on several local civic boards and local and state health-related boards, including the Kentucky Heart Association and the Kentucky Health Services Advisory Council. He received two prominent national awards, appointment to the American Lung Association Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Louis B. Russell, Jr. Award from the American Heart Association for outstanding service for Minority Programs in Kentucky in 1983. Dr. Bell died 27 November 1998 in Louisville, at the age of 94.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence, certificates; 1924-1959
Folder 2: Correspondence, minutes, certificates; 1960-1969
Folder 3: Correspondence, minutes, certificates; 1970-1972
Folder 4: Correspondence, minutes, speeches; 1973-1976
Folder 5: Correspondence, minutes, certificates; 1977-1978
Folder 6: Correspondence, certificates; 1979
Folder 7: Correspondence, certificates, 1980
Folder 8: Correspondence, minutes, certificates; 1981-1982
Folder 9: Correspondence; January – February 18, 1983
Folder 10: Correspondence, certificates; February 19-24, 1983
Folder 11: Correspondence, certificates; February 25-28, 1983
Folder 12: Congratulatory cards, notes; February, 1983
Folder 13: Correspondence, newspaper clippings; March – December 1983
Folder 14: Correspondence, certificates; 1984
Folder 15: Correspondence, congratulatory notes, cards, certificates, newspaper clippings; 1985
Folder 16: Correspondence, certificates; 1986
Folder 17: Correspondence, certificates, newspaper clippings; 1987
Folder 18: Correspondence, certificates, miscellaneous; 1988
Folder 19: Certificates, items from Bell memorial service, miscellaneous; 1989-1998
Folder 20: Undated correspondence, certificates, cards, miscellaneous
Folder 21: Oversize documents: certificates
Item 22: Audio recording of funeral led by Reverend Samson, 1998, up to 90 minutes, audiocassette
Subject Headings
African American physicians – Kentucky – Louisville.
African American business enterprises – Kentucky – Louisville.
Chest – Diseases – Louisville.
Health boards – Kentucky.
Hospitals – Kentucky – Louisville.
Insurance companies – Kentucky – Louisville.
Kentucky. Commission on Higher Education.
Kentucky. Health Services Advisory Council.
Kentucky Heart Association.
Louisville Lung Association.
Louisville Memorial Hospital.
Mammoth Life and Accident Insurance Co. (Louisville, Ky.)
Physicians – Kentucky – Louisville.
Public health – Kentucky – Louisville.