Marker #1503 Dr. Carl Clifford Howard/Local Humanitarian

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Carl Clifford Howard was born in Summer Shade in 1888. Following in his father’s footsteps, he graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1911. The following year, he began practicing medicine in Glasgow. He served the people in that area and throughout the state of Kentucky for nearly 60 years. In 1914, Dr. Howard established the first private hospital in Glasgow, the Maplewood Infirmary. He brought in the first X-ray equipment in 1916 and, by 1920, he began providing blood transfusions. Dr. Howard left his practice for 18 months to serve in Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces of World War I. When he returned, he led the team that opened the T.J. Samson Hospital in 1929.

Dr. Howard was very passionate about the medical profession and participated in various professional groups. He became the president of the Kentucky Medical Association in 1934. He encouraged the passage of an act that created six regional tuberculosis hospitals in Kentucky. This project was centered on lessening the mortality rate of tuberculosis cases in the state, which was very high at the time.

He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Rural Kentucky Medical Scholarship Fund. The campaign for the fund was launched by the Kentucky State Medical Association and the University of Louisville Medical School. More than $150,000 was donated by public citizens to increase the number of physicians practicing primary care medicine and psychiatry on a full-time basis in underserved counties. Dr. Howard received numerous awards for his service to the medical field, including the Governor’s Medal for outstanding leadership in the field of rural medicine and the Kentucky Medical Association’s first Distinguished Service Award. In 1962, he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Louisville and the University of Louisville Award of Merit – the Minerva. He was the first person to receive both awards. At the time of his death, on June 2, 1971, he was a member of the Foundation Board of Western Kentucky University and also an overseer of the University of Louisville. In his honor, the Dr. Carl Clifford Howard Oral History Project is housed at Western Kentucky’s University Special Collections Library.

Marker #1503 was dedicated in 1974. It reads: Local Humanitarian. Dr. C. C. Howard, an outstanding physician and citizen of Barren County, was born in Summer Shade, Kentucky, 1888. Began his medical career in Glasgow. He opened a private hospital there, 1914, and later helped build Glasgow’s first community hospital. Dr. Howard encouraged passage of an act which created 6 regional tuberculosis hospitals in Kentucky. See over.
(Reverse) Local Humanitarian. Dr. Howard was instrumental in the establishment of Rural Kentucky Medical Scholarship Fund. Among the numerous awards he received were the Governor’s Medallion for outstanding leadership in the field of rural medicine and the Kentucky Medical Association’s first Distinguished Service Award. In 1947, he opened the Howard Clinic. Died, 1971. Over.