A Journey of Resilience and Hope: Saint Anthony Hospital, Milwaukee

Step back in time, and let's journey together to the heart of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where you'll find the esteemed Saint Anthony Hospital, nestled on North 10th Street. Established in 1931, this remarkable building was birthed with a noble purpose - to serve Milwaukee's African-American community, a vision shared by the legendary Dr. Allen Herron, one of the hospital's co-founders and Wisconsin's first Black physician. In 1954, the iconic Dr. John W.

Maxwell, Sr, made history as Wisconsin's first-ever Black hospital chief of staff, further solidifying the importance of Saint Anthony. The hospital, however, underwent a transformative phase in the late 1980s, transitioning from a hospital to a family medical center before eventually closing its doors. For the majority of the '90s, '00s, and '10s, the building stood abandoned, contributing to the ongoing 'medical desert' experienced by Milwaukee's predominantly African-American population.

In 2017, the building was added to the State and National Register of Historic Places, offering a glimmer of hope for its future. The first reawakening came in 2019, as nonprofit organizations began converting the building into low-income housing, a project cut short during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2025, the reentry nonprofit Project RETURN, Inc, stepped in, offering housing to men at risk of homelessness as they navigated their way out of the criminal justice system, renewing the hope for this historical edifice once more.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons