Dr. Robert T. Burt

The son of formerly enslaved parents, Dr. Robert Tecumseh Burt was born on November 25, 1873 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Upon completion of his primary education at the county school, Burt waled either miles to and from the high school in Kosciusko. After completing his A. B. degree from Nashville's Walden University, in 1893 Burt entered Meharry Medical College, where he completed his four-year medical course with honors in 1897. He also attended Harvard University for post-graduate studies in surgery and observed surgical procedures at the E. A. Printy School of Surgical Technique in Chicago. Dr. Burt opened his first office on Third Street and later opened his hospital for African Americas on Current St. off Riverside Drive on March 6, 1906. In the early 1940s he opened his hospital to Fort Campbell soldiers and their families regardless of race. His hospital operated for 48 years. Assisted by his wife, Emma Williams Burt, a nurse, he opened a class for training nurses. Continued: During his medical practice, Dr. Burt performed approximately 400 procedures every year. He also operated a clinic for needy children where he removed their tonsils if needed. Long before they were commonly performed, he delivered babies by C-section. A member of the Clarksville's Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trustees at Meharry Medical College, and Examining Board during World War I, Dr. Burt served on Clarksville's Welfare Board and as State Chairman of the Interracial Commission's Executive Committee. A recipient of the Rosenwald Award, in 1923 the Clarksville community named Burt High School in his honor. His hospital closed in 1954 when Memorial Hospital opened on Madison Street. After a long illness, Dr. Burt died on August 16, 1955, at the age of 83. Later his remains were interred in Clarksville's Golden Hill Cemetery.