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Speaker 1 [0:00]
A historic landmarks sits along Main Street in Tarboro, it's name etched in stone. 11 years before he died, Dr. Milton Douglas Quigless took time from seeing his clinic patients to give the camera a tour of this building as it was back then in 1986. Several years earlier, he had closed the inpatient services because of the government's new and expensive regulations for hospital facilities.

Speaker 2 [0:27]
Ahead of me, the female ward, most of the patients were women, it's about three times the size of the male ward. I had two semi-private room, private room. I had an X-ray department. And then I had a pharmacy, I had a dispensary where we could patients could get their medicine cheaper than what they could at the drugstore.

Speaker 1 [0:51]
Dr. Quigless came to Tarboro in 1936 he was the only black physician among 6000 blacks living here at the time. It was a time when prejudice ran high and money ran low. Few bids were designated for blacks at the local hospital and few blacks could afford to go there.

Speaker 2 [1:10]
I did operations in the beds out there, on the kitchen table, all that sort of stuff. And the deliveries my God almighty. What I had to put up with...

Speaker 1 [1:21]
He put up with a lot before the clinic came along. For 10 years he tried to get privileges at Edgecombe County Hospital. Each year they turned him down in 1947 with some money he saved and the rest that he borrowed, Quigless replaced this old fishmarket and built a medical office with a 25 bed, two story hospital.

Speaker 2 [1:43]
I was able to beat my payments because the minute that I put this place up here it was filled.

Speaker 1 [1:50]
His wife Helen was both hospital administrator and dietitian. The largest Ward was for women. One woman was so grateful for her treatment she offered her skills as a seamstress to make up all of the hospital's surgical gowns.

Speaker 2 [2:07]
This is the operating room. Now we had a partition in here, this here is the scrub pot of the operating room, the clothes, and we have the operating table right here in the center.

Speaker 1 [2:20]
It had been 12 years since Dr. Quigless had performed surgery here, instruments were idle, equipment showed signs of age. But shelves still held supplies as if no one had intended for the hospital to close. Though the patients were gone. The memories lingered.

Speaker 2 [2:37]
This operating light was uh, I got this from a decommissioned aircraft carrier over at Newport Neuse, Virginia. The same thing applies to [Inaudible] would cost I don't know how many thousands of dollars it would've cost me, but it was declared service and still in the original [Inaudible]. I only had to pay $250 for it.

Speaker 1 [3:02]
Dr. Quigless opened his services to every race. It was 1951, 15 years after he began his practice in Tarboro before a white person sought out his help.

Speaker 2 [3:12]
That attitude back in those days but I'd been here about, you know, has to be about 5 years. A man came in and I looked in and a white man was back there and I said what are you doing back there? He said damnit to hell this [Inaudible] is killing me, I want some treatment. I let him stay, and that was the beginning.

Speaker 1 [3:33]
His beginning on the road to a career in medicine was not promising. As a child growing up in Port Gibson, Mississippi. He was apparently sickly. His main interest was in going fishing. In those days the future for such a child was bleak. After he finished the fifth grade, his parents gave him a choice.

Speaker 2 [3:53]
And they came and told me I didn't have to go to school unless I wanted to. What the hell, what'd they want to tell me that? I was going fishing every day, having a good time everybody else in school and I was laughing at the kids. School only went through the ninth grade. And five years later I was at the graduation and each kid was graduating and I was supposed to be there with them and all of a sudden it occurred to me that I had messed up.

Speaker 1 [4:22]
Milton Quigless made up for his mistake. He earned a high school diploma, a junior college degree and then went on to Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked to pay his way through school. One summer while playing the trombone with a traveling minstrel show. He visited North Carolina.

Speaker 2 [4:40]
It was most beautiful place I've ever seen. I hadn't been out of Mississippi coming up through Georgia in the mountains and everything. I went to Greensboro, went to High Point, Albemarle little towns like that, and left the show in Danville, Virginia. But I see it now one of these days I'm going to finish medicine and come to North Carolina to practice.

Speaker 1 [5:04]
His practice has made a difference. Evidence hangs on the wall of the clinic. It's evidence of hard work and determination, which has been recognized near and far.

Speaker 3 [5:15]
He was very unusual and very unique. And by this, I say that he got his education when all the odds were against him. And he came to a community that was predominantly white medical staffing, and he bucked the situation. He broke through and became well known and well respected by all people.

Speaker 1 [5:50]
In 1987, the local towns of Tarboro and Princeville celebrated Dr. Milton D. Quigless Day. At that time, he was cited in the United States Congressional Record by noted civil rights activists, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. Before he died, Dr. Quigless gave all of his operating room equipment to the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, for their award winning exhibit on health and healing experiences in North Carolina. It is visited by citizens from the state across the country and around the world. He would be pleased to know that the Quigless Clinic is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Speaker 4 [6:35]
He is the only physician that I have ever had any direct contact with who still practiced general practice so generalist medicine. And by no means did everything, literally he did. He did everything from surgery to psychiatry. I mean, he really was a renaissance doctor.

Speaker 4 [7:04]
People came from all over to get his arthritis treatment. He would inject them through the veins with a mixture of salicylates, iodine and colchicine, where he got the formula from I don't know, but he would give them this stuff IV. And the arthritis would go into remission very frequently to people who put down the crutches get out of wheelchairs. And it had to do with the patient's faith that he was the instrument that will get them well, and that to me has a lot to do with the art of medicine. He blended the art and the science of medicine as well as anybody I've ever seen or heard of.

Speaker 1 [7:45]
Just months before his death in 1997, at the age of 93, Dr. Quigless continued to practice medicine four days a week on an outpatient basis.

Speaker 2 [7:56]
I wanted to practice medicine where I would need it. I didn't give a damn what happened, I wouldn't let anything stop me.

Speaker 5 [8:47]
Hi, I'm Shirley Omaze, resident of Tarboro and was living here when Dr. Quigless came to Tarboro. I met Dr. Quigless through my parents. When my mother had a baby, he delivered the baby. And my mother did a little work for him too either at home or the hospital. And then she told him about my needing a job. Okay, I had gotten my training as a nurse assistant at the general hospital. And I had a little knowledge of nursing but not what I needed. All that I needed, because he taught me quite a bit when I got here. And he also taught me how to work in the operating room and the laboratory. And then as a surgical nurse. He taught me how to work with during the operation, how to do the nursing while he was operating, and then different instruments and everything. I was the mother of something. I had two children at that time and I needed a job doc behind me. And I was wondering whether I should stay with him when he got here, after talking to him, because I had a little fear, I guess that I wasn't what he really needed, and didn't know enough to be here working. And so he made me comfortable and let me know I was okay. And what I didn't know he teach it to me. And what's the old girls working here that I knew he had nurses sleeping in the back downstairs, and they would all be on hand, I wanted to come up and help if we had a need, when there was one upstairs. And the operating room, we have been, in fact, most of the time and I got to meet a lot of different surgeons that would come down here to help. One was Dr. Wilson. And Dr. Porter. I remember them quite vividly. And they were very, very helpful also, and they had a good relationship with Doc. Doctor was a person who could train anybody to do medicine to do what was needed be. And he was a person that had could meet with people. And just like he'd been knowing them all the time, make them comfortable. And talking with him. Mrs. Craiglist also was a big help. She, when we had a little discourage or something, she would come along, just like the catalyst that kept us together. And we will call it the glue that keeps the place go going. But she would come along and kind of boost you up and let you know that everything's gonna be alright, and what do you need, and everything. And then with the children, they were very helpful when they came along a few years later. And so I was able to work with them and be with them. And they were very, very nice people. They helped my family a lot and helped me. And I worked for Dr. Quigless for 33 years. And then I decided to just before a few years before that I decided to go back and get my RN license by that time I had become an LPN. And so he posted me on in that, and I thank God for it. And so he would get in the operating room, there were times when we were in there, Doctor would always crystal it and let you know that he's happy when he's coming in. And that you know, you don't have to fear. So when we were surgery, and he was into his his doctrine and everything and trying to keep us all calm, he would whistle and to add and sang one of those hymns. Sometimes it would be one of those old saggy hymns. And eventually we join in, but we didn't have to worry. And whatever problem arose, Dr. Quigless was able to help us with that.

Speaker 6 [12:49]
My name is Helen Van Knight. And I work for Dr. Quigless for 26 years. I first met Dr. Quigless when I was a young girl, and he had just come to town. At that time, Dr. Quigless was doing house calls. And he would come to my grandmother and to my grandfather and my grandmother. She had a habit of going to get the cow. And she would always scar her leg. And she treated herself as she eventually had to come to Dr. Quigless. And Dr. Quigless was the source of ulcers as we say. He has treated many people in this community that has had ulcers, and he had something gone, cocked it up, did himself and he cured many ulcers in this town, I remember that from being a young girl. He continued to do that. When I worked for him, he was one of the best known round here, dermatologists. He treated skin diseases. And when he thought he couldn't do anything with that he would send them to Duke and they would send some of those people right back to Dr. Quigless and tell him what he was doing to keep on doing so he was well known around here for skin disease and he had many patients that he treated for different skin disease.

I had many jobs. Not many jobs but some jobs but during that time my children were in college and I needed a job that I could depend on. So I had a plan so someone told me said apply to Quigless Clinic say you have been taken typing and office work from Edgecombe Tech. So I came be a lead of that patient search as he had and he hired me and I started as a receptionist. And at the his eldest secretary Ms. Knight left he moved me into the upper office and in the upper office with many jobs as a clerk, rental collecter, phone business, tax business, and anything payroll and anything else that you could name it, he would throw away. So anyway, we had a good relationship and I enjoyed working with Doc and but in time, he was getting up in age and he kept saying I'm going to retire next year. So that year would go by and so he'd say well, I'm gonna retire this year. I said ok Doc. Well that year would go by. So after my husband died I say well Doc, I said I'm going home you go on home hun I said yes, I'm going home I said I tried to wait for you I said I don't think you going to retire. I think you just go work and work and work. No, I'm gonna retire. So anyway, I left Doc in 1990. But during the time I was with Doc, you can't work for a doctor and be sick. Because if you call them and say you don't feel good. Maybe you didn't feel good. But he was you come on down here. I got something for you to feel good. And he was good about taking care of his workers. If you've had an ailment you'd tell him and only reason he didn't know it, they weren't because you were hiding it from him. But he was good. He kept us on our feet and better appreciated and when you needed something and personal favor. I said he would supply, he would come to your rescue if you need it. And I'm missing. I stayed right across the street from him. And after I retired, I could see him coming out of the house. And he used to tell me that his feet were sore, the bottom of his feet were real sore. And he would come out of the house someone look like even walking on ice because his feet were so sore. But he journeyed on until just about me saving in and it wasn't long, he was still working. And think when he gets sick, he will still let quick is clear.

Speaker 7 [20:11]
And I was a patient. When I met Doc I was really young is my mother was coming to him. And he'd been operating in I don't know about 20 years old, it been a long time. And then I had to come because I had asthma. And so he treated my asthma and bronchitis. And he really good on bronchitis. And then sitting there he would tell some jokes. I used to come here, and he'd be so mean to patients. I was so happy to be here wasn't when we might get to. But eventually he got to him. And sometimes I was so sick. I said, I don't know, I didn't know. We feeling. We're about here and we can have whatever he gave me it worked. And one time I came I had bronchitis so bad. He had me coming back every day every week to take a shot. And it works so I wish that Doc was still around. I still suffer from bronchitis, but the asthma if it's not about me, but the bronchitis and knowing this time of year. I know bronchitis real bad especially with allergy. And if Doc was around, I know he'd give me something that worked. I haven't found anything yet as well as what he gave me, but you know, Doc, used to come out to churches, sometimes in the country really back in the country, he would come out of churches. And when he would come over, everybody was glad to see him because everybody knew him. He was real good, you know black people everybody loved Dr. Quigless so they can depend on him. I mean, then he had a lot of patients, but he really had black and white patients, but he really had a lot of black patients. And I met a lot of different people. I met people from all down Williamston come from they had moved from Williamston from Murfreesboro, and what some different places by then some people came from long distances. And they would be early in the morning. Sometimes before the place open they were already sitting out there waiting. When I come back my name on the book, and I didn't want to sit all day, but and I said Dr. Quigless really miss. We haven't had anybody that did what Dr. Quigless had done. And I hate to see you know, I know everybody again, you know what I mean? Going on, but he is really missed. Doctor really knew arthritis. He treated my mother's arthritis, she had arthritis real bad and she would come out and take shots. And then my sister had he treated her and she had what the hell a rhema. What a rhema, rheumatoid arthritis. And she had to go to the hospital, he made it possible for her to go to Chapel Hill she had to have operation on her hip. And she said well, tissues bad from arthritis. And then my mother she still had arthritis, but then treated my dad for arthritis.

Speaker 8 [23:21]
Barbara Childs Carter. I live here in Tarboro. And been here all my life. I met Dr. Quigless when I was younger. And I became to know him more. When I got a little bit older. I did some work with him, but before I worked with him my first real job that I had, he was instrumental in helping me get that job. He was one of my references, and I appreciated that. And I worked on that job for 18 years. And during that time, I worked for Dr. Quigless, maybe on Saturdays, and sometimes during the week, you know, part time, and I enjoyed working with him. And I had fun being around him. And he was a good good employer. He has helped me tremendously. And my mother worked for him. My grandmother first, then my aunt, my sister, and it was like a family affair. And we just it was just fun. And before I had my baby. My mother taught with him. And she asked him to check me out because something was wrong with me. I didn't know it, but she knew that I was acting strange. So we went to his house. And he gave me the test and he told me to come to the clinic and he'd give me the results. So I went to the clinic a few days he gave me the results and he told me that I was pregnant. I said no, no, you got to be kidding and he said you know I ain't kidding! You know, you've been through. But anyway, I was. And he worked with me to whole time I was pregnant. And he delivered my baby 26 years ago. And in the emergency room, I've always heard how bad it hurts to have a baby. But when I was having my baby, it didn't hurt because he would tell me some crazy jokes, you know, and we would just laugh and so, and then she popped out, you know, so he just, he just been a godsend. And he has helped me and I had problems with my neck and my shoulder. No one could tell me what was wrong. And I came to Dr. Quigless and he sent me to Raleigh, to a specialist. And that's how I found out what was wrong with me. And I appreciate him for that, because I was almost losing use of my arm. And thanks to God and Dr. Quigless, but I didn't, because of him. And I just he just helped me in so many ways. And I just I miss him. And I didn't get to see him. You know, after he died, I came to the funeral home, they had closed them up and it hurt me so bad. Because he just meant so much to me and to my family. And I just love him.

Speaker 9 [26:22]
Okay, I'll start with you or start with me. We got to start with you what is your name. My name is Ricky Thompson. And I guess my one of the reasons I'm here was my son Fleming was probably Dr. Quigless's last patient and it was a good experience for him. And for me, Dr. Quigless was also a client of mine. I'm in the securities business work with there with Jones and I helped Dr. Quigless, you know, for the last few years of his life. But when the My favorite story about Dr. Quigless was when my son Fleming was about nine years old, eight years old, he was a swimmer, very good swimmer and he spent so he spent quite a bit of time in the water. And Fleming developed the rash. And I guess it ran from his chest area down all over his lower chest and down to his abdomen, abdomen and then below his bathing suit. We took him to several doctors and you know, not much luck. We just figured that the rash was caused by spending so much time in the water with the chemicals. But anyway, we weren't having my success with a couple of doctors. So someone said well Dr. Quigless is very good with skin diseases. So what I did, I said, Well, I'll try it. I came up see Dr. Quigless. Well, my son was a little bit anxious about this because his idea of going to see a doctor you know, was to go into a clinic with lots and lots of nurses and lots and lots of doctors and just a different looking place. So we walked in and we didn't have to wait. There were no patients in the lobby and, and Dr. Quigless just took us right straight to the backroom. In fact, it's the office in his office. Fleming sat down and we said some small talk for about five minutes. And finally Dr. Quigless said, Boy, take your shirt off. Fleming looked to me like you know, I don't daddy, am I supposed to do this? You know, this man gentleman is ninety years old and he's gonna fix me. Anyway, Fleming pulled his shirt up. Dr. Quigless didn't hesitate. He reached down and rubbed Fleming's skin just like this and said, Well, he's got some bad blood in him. He didn't say I think I know what it is. He said the boys got some bad blood in him. I said well Dr. Quigless what do you do about that? He said he just flush it out. I'm gonna give you something he said put your shirt back down and Fleming said glad that was over. But anyway, so we get up we walk across the hall to what he calls his pharmacy. He opens a drawer and takes a glass out an empty jar and he pours a powder in it. And then he turns on the spigot and turns pour some tap water in it. He takes it shakes the bottle covers the bottle with his thumb, shakes it up, puts the top back on and it says here Give it to him twice a day until it's gone. Now that rash ain't going away by then you come back I'm gonna give you another half bottle but this is gonna get rid of it. He didn't say it might get rid of it. He said it was gonna get rid of well, story's not over I take Fleming home. Anyway, by the way, Dr. Quigless he visited with Fleming for another 10 or 15 minutes, took him out introducing to all of the staff. I'm not sure if you were working here at that time or not. But he was just, you know, made a fuss over Fleming and Fleming was very tickled by but anyway, I go home and my wife Casey says well what did Dr. Quigless say? Dr. Quigless said that there was something in his bloodstream making that happen. He's he had some bad blood. She said, Well, what's he supposed to do? I said, Well, he's supposed to take this medicine. She said where'd you get that? Time to quit this, mixed it up. He mixed it up. I said yeah he makes it up right there in the sink poured it up mixed it himself, said Fleming tell Fleming take it twice a day. She said, and you're gonna let him take it. I said, honey, you don't understand. I said Dr. Quigless didn't say that. I think this is what the problem is, Dr. Quigless said, This is what the problem is. And he didn't say if you take this medicine, I think it might help you, boy, he said, You take this medicine, and it will fix it. And I said, well, the man was the man looks and sounded like he knew what he was talking about. My son's gonna take this medicine. And he did. And less than two weeks later, it was gone. I mean, and he had had this rash for a long, long time. And so it was not the swimming pool. It Dr. Quigless knew exactly what it was. And he was 90, probably at least 90 At the time when he did that. But he knew exactly what he was doing. And it didn't take him. It didn't take him 15 seconds to diagnose that. I mean, he literally, he looked at his skin, he said, rubbed it, felt it. It said boys got some bad blood. We got to flesh it out. And that's what he did. But that's my story about Dr. Quigless. him. Yeah. Do you remember how well, how did I meet doctor, I don't really remember how I was introduced to Dr. Quigless. But anyway, Dr. Quigless, was a good hearted person. And he was a smart doctor and all that he just really did not pay attention to the details of his finances. When I say his finances, I mean, money in the bank, he ended at different places, and just really didn't keep up with it that much. And he wanted a way to get it all kind of brought together. So he came to me and asked me if I would help him with some of this stuff. I said, Sure. Dr. Quigless. He had stocks here. He had some in a lockbox at the bank he had, it was it's pretty strong everywhere. And he wanted to he wanted to do he knew there was a better way. So anyway, Dr. Quigless, brought it in and he brought it in just say I want you to help me handle all my assets. So So I did. And he trusted me. I mean, that's one thing. I remember about Dr. Quigless Yeah, he, he, he looked for the best in people. And he really did trust me. And I took that trust, you know, seriously and did everything I could for him. And just to talk about the details of it. I remember one of the things I like to do for people is to call the North Carolina [Inaudible] Department, the unclaimed property division. I said well, I'm gonna just had a curiosity pulled up on the computer and pulled up Dr. Quigless. Sure enough, there were about five unclaimed assets out there. Well, I was able to find probably 20 or $30,000, in abandoned, abandoned monies, properties that he had, through the years just misplaced or whatever, but anyway, brought it in and, and the money didn't impress him. He was like, Well, this is nice. I didn't know I had that out there. And yeah, I was just very humbled. He was very humble man. And that, you know, he was glad to have it. But at the same time, if he hadn't had it, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, either. He was just a good hearted person. And, and again, he was he was, he was not taken back or impressed by a lot of money. But the man did well for himself over the years. But the reason I met him was like I said, I tried to help him get his things a little bit organized. And thanks for coming. What

Speaker 10 [33:26]
is your name? My name is Reverend Herman Mays Patterson. I have known Dr. Quigless, all of my life. I remember when he used to be the doctor of my mother. I'm a little baby, that from a little, I would say young person up until graduating high school. And after graduating high school, I went away. And I was gone for 35 years and returned back to Tarboro after 35 years, and Dr. Quigless needed a receptionist secretary. And he asked me to be his receptionist service secretary. And I told him I'd love to be because both my sisters had worked under him for years. And I am the one that went away and lived away from home. And when I came back, I was fortunate enough to actually work for Dr. Quigless, And that was a pleasure for me.

Speaker 11 [34:46]
What's What are your fondest memories? You have of Dr. Quigless?

Speaker 10 [34:50]
The fondest memories I have of Dr. Quigless is he seem to know everything in the medical field. He wasn't befuddled when anyone talked with him about anything. He he was a natural, and I believe personally, he was a blessing to Tarboro. Because he was so in line with helping the poor, and he did so much of that. I wonder how he managed to do it. But I was always so proud of him because he never turned anyone down. He always say, oh, we'll fix it just come on. And he went ahead, and we did it. And everybody loved him. And everybody thought, you know, of him as actually really kind of a person who would wait on you whether you had the money or not, you know. And I, when I saw how many files in his file was were for people who did not have the money to pay, and how he had trusted them all these years. I was amazed. I said, Well, he was an angel, because it doesn't generally happen, you know. And he was sent here for that. That reason, I'm sure. And for all the reasons that God wanted to send him here because he was so needed, and we needed him. And we loved him. And he loved everybody. He loved everybody. I haven't heard a person say that they didn't like Dr. Quigless and that he wasn't nice to them.

Speaker 11 [34:48]
You worked here as a receptionist secretary. In a given day, how many patients would you say he saw?

Speaker 10 [37:01]
Well, actually, I would say he saw about an average day would be about 60 or 70.

Speaker 11 [37:13]
Six zero? Not 16 but six zero?

Speaker 10 [37:19]
And when on the weekends, like if you worked on Saturday, it was full of students coming in to get shot. Let's say inoculations for exercise, you know, they were physical and and they wanted to they have to have an inoculation for that. And they just love Dr. Quigless. And they will come in on Friday, I would say on Friday and Saturday to see him. And but basically, so many came during the week too you know, but they were mostly adults, you know. On the weekend, the students