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TAMPA – Clara C. Frye was a mulatto nurse who moved to Tampa in 1901 and established the first hospital for African-Americans out of her three-bedroom home. Her efforts saved hundreds of lives and her image is forever memorialized in bronze among other local historical characters at Water Works Park in Tampa and the ninth floor of Tampa General Hospital.
Clara c. Frye (1872 – 1936) was the daughter of Joseph Draughn, a southern African-American farmer and Fannie Fordam, a teacher who was raised in London, England. Frye trained to become a nurse first in Chicago, Ill., then in Montgomery Ala.
During her tenure as a nursing student, Frye heard many stories about black patients dying because they were denied treatment at segregated hospitals. Appalled by the premature death statistics in the area, Frye moved to Tampa in 1901, establishing a hospital in her small home. At the time, Tampa Municipal Hospital (present-day
Tampa General Hospital) did not admit black patients.
Coming from a mixed family, Frye did not discriminate when it came to her patients. She treated all races in the home at 1615 Lamar Avenue, which she shared with her husband Sherman Frye, a Tampa barber, and their two sons. Clara also admitted patients in need even if they could not pay for her services.
She brought in both white and black doctors to perform surgery on the dining room table she used as an operating table. She often gave up her own bedroom for their recovery. After 15 years of treating people in her home, she borrowed money and purchased a two-story, 17-room building down the street, naming it the Clara Frye Hospital.
Relying heavily on donations, Clara would not press her patients for payment, but found it difficult to keep up with the costs associated with the hospital. In 1929, the
City of Tampa purchased the building and took over its operations, re-naming it "Tampa Negro Hospital." Despite health concerns of the own, Clara continued to work at the hospital for 20 years. After she finally retired due to crippling arthritis and other health issues, the city dedicated the hospital to her again changing its name to Clara Frye Memorial Hospital.
Clara died April 8, 1936 at age 63. She was reportedly impoverished upon her death. She is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Tampa Heights.
From 1938 to 1967 another Clara Frye Memorial Hospital opened in West Tampa. The 62-bed hospital was constructed with
Works Progress Administration Funds and served black residents on Union Street adjacent to the Hillsborough River.
In 1991, the original Tampa General Hospital was renamed after Frye. Today, in the new hospital, the ninth floor bears her name.
Clara was one of the original six trailblazers honored on Tampa's Riverwalk. She forever changed the history of the city and sacrificed her own well-being to take on the health issues of others. Her empathy for the sick and impoverished set a standard that residents of the Bay area should aspire to keep. Patients who couldn't reimburse Clara for their services paid her back with admiration and kindness and though she died poor, her life was rich with love.
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