
JSHC Timeline
1949
Our Founding
Local speech therapist Sarah Barrett discovers the need for a children’s speech clinic after her practice is unable to meet the growing caseload of children in need of therapy. Barrett discusses the problem with pediatrician Dr. Hugh Carithers and Junior League Member Jane Grey Scott. Together, they create the Children’s Speech Correction Clinic.
A Partnership with the Junior League
1952
Service in the Era of Jim Crow
The Clinic officially expands its services to Brewster Hospital, Jacksonville’s first hospital for African-Americans, after initially being unable to treat African-American children due to Jim Crow Laws. Therapy takes place in Brewster’s Isolation Ward four-and-a-half days a week, with therapists alternating days.
1954
1962
New Directions
After serving as an amalgamated entity for eight years, the Children Guidance and Speech Correction Clinic elects to separate into two different organizations—the Child Guidance Clinic of Duval County and the Speech and Hearing Center of Duval County, which would later become the Jacksonville Speech & Hearing Center.
1964
Breaking New Grounds
The Center purchases a property “located at First and Laura Streets” to build new permanently integrated facilities, signaling a new era of expansion. During this time, the Center begins offering additional audiology services, participating in community health fairs, as well as pioneering early intervention speech-language and hearing programs for local preschoolers.
1966
Driving the Change
The Center receives a Hearing Test Mobile Unit “equipped with two audiometers, eight chairs and a small desk” as a donation. The unit is described as a “trailer-office, waiting room and hearing test room with a sound treated booth” that can be used to test patients off-site throughout the community.
1971
1974
1985
Raising Awareness About Speech and Hearing Health
1989
Care During the AIDS Crisis
1998
Facing Financial Challenges
2005
2010
2015
Becoming a Certified Autism Center
2016
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