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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 410
Some of the people who were interviewed said their doctor was Dr. Beard. Others mentioned Dr. Duncan. A biography of Dr. Beard and of Dr. Duncan is in the book, Medicine Bags and Bumpy Roads (pp. 219-220 and pp. 255-256, respectively) written by Jewell S. Goldsmith and Helen D. Fulton (1985). The following information was taken from their book. The photographs were copied from their book. Dr. Robert Samuel Beard, Sr. Robert Samuel Beard was born in 1874 in Apalachicola, Florida, the son of a cotton sampler. He received his medical degree from Knoxville College (Tennessee) in 1922. His wife was from Knoxville, and for the next 10 years they lived in that city. He practiced medicine, was on staff of Knoxville College, operated a drug store, and taught high school for three years. Then they moved to Huntsville. He practiced medicine in various locations before purchasing a two-story house on Church Street for a clinic. He was a member and officer in the Charitable Society, which promoted self-improvement in the Black community and was a Medical Examiner at Alabama A&M University and Oakwood College. Dr. Maurice Miller Duncan Maurice Miller Duncan was born, the son of a planter, in Montgomery County, Alabama in 1884; however, his father moved to Florida upon his retirement and Maurice graduated from high school in Tampa. He graduated with honors from the University of Alabama Medical School in 1914. Thereafter, he practiced in Choctaw County for a year, in Paint Rock in Jackson County for three years and then moved to Huntsville, where he had an office in the Huntsville Infirmary, the forerunner of Huntsville Hospital. Dr. Duncan was an active member of various civil organizations. He singlehandedly raised $25,000 toward the construction of a TB hospital near Decatur. Dr. Duncan specialized in internal medicine, delivered many babies, and loved his patients. When his female patients had no one to care for them, he would send his wife to give them nursing care and even cook for them. He was friendly, joked with his patients, and put them at ease. Dr. Duncan was an avid fisherman and coon hunter. In 1949, he gave up his private practice to take the position of chief civilian physician at Redstone Arsenal. During this time he was a member of the Ordnance Industry Physicians Association and a member of the Huntsville Hospital Medical Staff. He held the position of chief civilian physician at Redstone Arsenal until he retired in 1958. 410 - (4443)