Dr. James G. Glass: A Dedicated Doctor on Clay Street
In December 1959, Henderson set aside a day to honor Dr. James Garfield Glass. The City Commission proclaimed December 13 “Dr. J. G. Glass Day,” recognizing a physician who had served the community for 50 years. At First Baptist Church, the mayor, county judge, medical colleagues, clergy, and the president of Glass’s medical school offered tributes. Glass was unable to attend because of a long illness, so his wife, Ora, and their family represented him.
The recognition marked a career that began in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Glass was the son of Edward W. Glass, an undertaker, and Sallie E. McReynolds Glass. He attended high school in Hopkinsville, studied embalming in Cincinnati, and worked for a time in his father’s business. He then earned a medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, which educated Black physicians at a time when segregation sharply restricted their opportunities. He also completed clinical study at the University of Chicago in 1913.
After practicing briefly in Hopkinsville, Glass opened his Henderson practice on March 17, 1909. A 1915 biographical directory described him as a physician and surgeon and listed his office at 905 Clay Street, a short distance from his home at 836 Clay Street. He served as a medical examiner for several societies and belonged to the Kentucky State Medical Society, the Knights of Pythias, and the United Brothers of Friendship.
Newspaper accounts offer glimpses of the calls that filled his working days. In August 1918, during an outbreak of illness, Glass attended 12-year-old George Ed Carr on Holloway Street and called in another physician, Dr. Moseley. The brief report preserves one moment in a practice that continued across decades; census records still identified Glass as a physician in 1950.
Glass married Henderson native Ora H. Kennedy on November 6, 1913. They raised two children, Edward and Dorothy, at their Clay Street home. Ora, a former teacher, became a community leader in her own right. She served for ten years as president of the Henderson PTA and held leadership roles in state and national Black parent-teacher organizations.
The 1959 tribute brought together people from across Henderson’s civic, religious, and medical life. Among those honoring Glass was Dr. Harold D. West, president of Meharry Medical College. Glass died at his Clay Street home on September 7, 1962, and was buried in Fernwood Cemetery. Ora, who died in 1971, rests beside him. Their shared grave marker offers a simple description of his life’s work: “Dedicated Doctor.”
Sources:
Frank Lincoln Mather, ed., Who’s Who of the Colored Race, vol. 1 (1915), p. 116.
“Dr. James G. Glass Honored for 50 Years of Service,” Journal of the National Medical Association 52, no. 2 (March 1960), 138. The digitized page is cataloged online under the title of another article printed on it.
Henderson Morning Gleaner, August 10, 1918; October 26, 1913.
U.S. census records for Henderson, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950;
University of Kentucky, Notable Kentucky African Americans database, “Glass, Ora H. Kennedy”.
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