A property where generations of Black physicians cared for Tallahassee families will begin a new chapter under Florida A&M University, continuing a legacy of health care, education and community service that stretches back nearly 70 years.

FAMU acquired nearly an acre of property along South Adams Street, directly across from the University’s main campus.

For decades, the property was home to the medical practice of two pioneering Black physicians, Dr. Russell L. Anderson and his son-in-law, Dr. Alexander D. “A.D.” Brickler, whose work was intertwined with the former FAMU Hospital and Tallahassee’s Black community.

FAMU plans to transform the property into a hub for health sciences education, experiential learning, research and community engagement.

“This is a very special opportunity to bring this historic property into the “FAMUly” while honoring those whose scholarship, medical practice and impact helped shape our University and this community,” said President Marva

B. Johnson, J.D. “We accept the responsibility of carrying that history forward. We are committed to preserving its significance while creating new opportunities for our students, faculty and community.”

A Family Rooted in FAMU

Celeste Brickler Hart knows the property’s history intimately.

Her grandfather, Anderson, was recruited to FAMU in 1946 after graduating from Howard University College of Medicine. He taught biology and served as medical director of the former FAMU Hospital. In 1957, Hart’s father, Brickler, moved to Tallahassee and joined Anderson in medical practice.

Brickler also practiced at FAMU Hospital and served as team physician for the FAMU Rattlers. When FAMU Hospital merged with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in 1971, Anderson and Brickler became the first Black physicians on the medical staff.

Their South Adams Street practice was part of a larger Black medical community that developed around FAMU Hospital, Hart recalled. Medical and dental offices, pharmacies and other health care services clustered in the area, providing care to Black residents when segregation severely limited their access elsewhere.

“It was a real Black medical community,” Hart said. “In addition to the care that was provided that wasn’t available (anywhere) in North Florida, not just Tallahassee, but the surrounding area, it was a training venue.”

The former FAMU Hospital, now the Foote-Hilyer Administration Center, was built with community support and provided professional opportunities for Black Tallahassee residents and clinical training for FAMU nursing and pharmacy students.

“The history and legacy are so important because we continue to have health care challenges,” Hart said. “It’s a lesson that we can meet them on our own.”

Hart followed in her family’s footsteps, practicing medicine in Tallahassee for 35 years, including decades as an endocrinologist in the same building where her father and grandfather practiced. She also established the Anderson Brickler Gallery there, dedicated to African diaspora art, arts education and historical reflection.

As Hart approached retirement, she hoped FAMU would become the property’s next steward.

“That was my dream,” Hart said.

Hart left pieces of the family’s history behind, including her father’s physician’s bag and photographs of her father and grandfather.

“I wanted to be sure I left a little piece of that DNA,” she said.

Building FAMU’s Health Sciences Enterprise

The acquisition will allow the University to connect the property’s historic health care mission with FAMU’s growing Health Sciences Enterprise.

Executive Vice President Donald Palm, Ph.D., said the property will provide opportunities for nursing, pharmacy, allied health and public health students to learn, conduct research and work together.

The University is developing plans for a cardiometabolic center focused on diabetes, kidney disease and obesity.

Palm emphasized that FAMU does not intend to duplicate services already offered by community health providers. Instead, the University wants to collaborate with federally qualified health centers and other organizations to address gaps in care.

“We don’t want to compete. We want to fill the gap,” Palm said. “We want to work together in order to really improve health outcomes in the city, in the region, in rural communities as well.”

Investment Helps Make it Possible

The acquisition was supported through supplemental funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

Delores Glover, special projects coordinator for Title III programs, played a key role in coordinating the acquisition.

“This represents a full-circle moment for Florida A&M University,” she said. “The original owners were part of the establishment of our nursing program, and now our nursing program will be a direct beneficiary of this historic property.”

More than 50 years ago, Glover received health care at the facility. Decades later, she watched as President Johnson signed the documents bringing the property into the University.

“I was a bit teary about it,” Glover said. “It was a very emotional moment for me to see the University take on this historic property, knowing that our School of Nursing will continue serving the community, while our students and faculty will have opportunities to be involved in research. My heart was full.”

For a property that spent generations serving Tallahassee’s Black community, its next chapter will continue where its history began: connecting education, health care and service.