Clara C. Frye

Clara C. Frye (1872 – 1936) was the daughter of an African-American farmer and an English-born school teacher. She trained to become a nurse in Chicago, Illinois, and Montgomery, Alabama, before moving to Tampa in 1901. Several years later, Frye found herself responsible for the care of an ill black patient who was denied a vital operation due to the color of his skin. At the time, the Tampa Municipal Hospital did not admit African American patients, resulting in Frye offering her three-bedroom home as a substitute. A home she shared with her husband Sherman Frye, a Tampa barber, and their two sons. After Frye and a sympathetic doctor conducted the non-official operation to save the patient's life, the Frye family home would become a makeshift hospital. The dining room table donned the role of an operating table, with Frye's bedroom often serving as a recovery room for patients.

Frye's home would continue to serve as a hospital for another fifteen years, with white and black doctors conducting surgery. Frye did not discriminate when it came to her patients, even if they could not pay for her services. In 1923, through borrowed money, Frye purchased and renovated a two-story building, converting it into a larger hospital and named it the Clara Frye Hospital. However, due to not pressing patients for payment, Frye found it increasingly difficult to finance the hospital. After five years, the city of Tampa stepped in and purchased the hospital from Frye and took over its operations. Frye continued to work at the hospital for 20 years until her crippling arthritis forced her to retire.

After a lifetime of saving countless lives in service to her community, Clara C. Frye died on April 8, 1936. She was 63 years old. Following her death, the city renamed her hospital the Clara Frye Memorial Hospital. Her legacy still lives on today, with the ninth Floor at Tampa General Hospital named after her.