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Martin's Studio Collection

This extensive photographic archive of over 300,000 images consists primarily of 4x5 inch negatives but also includes some prints and business papers. Carol W. Martin (1911-1993) became the first full time paid professional photographer for the Greensboro Daily News in January 1938. When he left to open his own studio in 1947, he took with him a wealth of his work for the newspaper. His World War II images obviously date to his local photojournalism career. Many of the post-1947 images of businesses, on the other hand, were probably taken by his partner, Malcolm A. Miller (1917-2008). Known as Tex, he was a self-trained photographer who learned his craft from classes at White Oak YMCA and from a backyard chicken-coop-turned-darkroom he built at the family home in the Revolution Mill village.

L. Richardson Memorial Hospital examination room
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital examination room.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital exterior front view
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital, designed by noted architect Charles C. Hartmann, opened at 603 South Benbow Road in May 1927. It was the first modern African-American hospital in Greensboro's history. The Greensboro Negro Hospital Association raised $100,000 to build it, with half of that amount coming from the Richardson family: Mrs Lunsford Richardson and her son H. Smith made the donation in honor of her husband, the founder of Vick Chemical Company. The hospital stayed at this location until a new building opened in 1966. In 1993, "L. Rich" was sold to Vencor, and the old building became a nursing home. It closed in 1996, and Project Homestead planned to convert it into a low-income retirement community.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital exterior side view
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital streetview, from the side.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital group of men
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital group of men, possibly an administrative board.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital hallway
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital hallway.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital hallway
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital hallway.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital kitchen
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital kitchen.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital laboratory
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital laboratory.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital nursery
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital nursery.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital patient in bed
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital patient in bed with many flowers in the room.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital patient in bed
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital patient in bed with many flowers in the room. A nurse stands beside the patient.
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital x-ray machine
View of the L. Richardson Memorial Hospital x-ray room. By the mid-1950s, over 22,000 x-ray procedures were being carried out yearly, 26 years after the hospital's founding. Mrs. Emanuel Sternberger donated money for the original x-ray equipment as well as the newer machine seen here, which was part of the new addition in 1945.
Pre-natal clinic at L. Richardson Hospital
These women are getting up-to-date information in a pre-natal clinic held at L. Richardson Memorial Hospital on May 19, 1948. Between 1940 and 1950, Guilford County's population increased by more than 37,000, with African-American citizens totaling about 20 percent. This period of relative growth and prosperity still saw high infant mortality rates at 27.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, which translated into 126 infant deaths. Although very high, Guilford's 1948 rate was comparable to other counties at the time, but unfortunately, Guilford has had some of the higher statewide infant mortality rates in more recent years.

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