by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
When the Brewster Hospital time capsule was opened, 75 years of history was unveiled.
Among employees and the public, there were 21 past Brewster nurses in attendance at Wednesday’s event at Shands Jacksonville.
“We may be saying goodbye, but its’ legacy still remains,” said Jim Burkhart, president of Shands Jacksonville. “We didn’t even know this time capsule existed, but we know there is something inside.”
Brewster Hospital was the first health care facility to care for African-Americans in Jacksonville. The time capsule was found when the former Brewster Hospital was torn down so the Veterans Association Clinic can be built.
Before the time capsule was opened Rita Reagan of Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council spoke about how Brewster Hospital and Springfield had many “ironic parallels,” she said.
Vera Cruse was a 1951 graduate of the Brewster Hospital Nursing School and she spoke of her memories of being in nursing school.
“It is a blessing that I am able to be here and see what was in the time capsule,” she said. “This is a part of our history and I am hoping to share with others to continue to go to school and care for people.”
Currently she works part-time in the community affairs department at Shands Jacksonville.
Marcus Drewa, former Brewster and Methodist Hospital administrator also spoke of his memories of working at the hospitals.
“I spent one-third of my life at Brewster Hospital and I am happy to have served there,” he said.
Something that he will never forget is the process they went through before the Methodist Hospital opened on Oct. 1, 1967.
Burkhart and Greg Miller, vice president of administration put on the gloves and pried open the time capsule with a pair of pliers. After a few minutes, the lid came off and Burkhart pulled each piece of history out to show the audience. Some items inside included the former contract for the construction of Brewster Hospital, a Saturday, July 19, 1930 edition of the Florida Times-Union, the Brewster Hospital Building fund, picture of nurses with babies, business cards, other documents and news articles and a glass container full of sand that is the first scoop of sand from the building site.
Burkhart said each item will be put on display for everyone to see at a later date.