"Indian Murals, Mural being painted at Cushman Hospital, Tacoma Arts, 1937." Artist Julius Twohy was photographed as he stood on a scaffold to create a mural across the 72 foot long dining room wall at the Cushman Hospital at 2002 East 28th Street. The artist was a member of the Ute tribe from the Uintah Basin in eastern Utah.

Cushman Indian Hospital; buildings, residences, and manicured grounds. In 1928, these buildings that had previously housed the Indian school and the Cushman Veteran's Hospital were given to the US Indian Service as a tuberculosis treatment unit. The buildings were demolished to erect the Tacoma Indian Hospital in the forties. The hospital was completed in 1943, its construction delayed due to a wartime shortage of building supplies.

Tacoma Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Ground breaking ceremonies for new buildings at Cushman Indian Hospital. L.P. Johnston, engineer in charge, stands in the ruins of some of the former structures at this site. The new two million dollar, modern Cushman Hospital would be built on the site that one housed an Indian School (1860), a Veterans Hospital and an older Indian Hospital.

Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1950-1960; Johnston, L.P.; Ground breaking ceremonies--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Western singer and motion picture actor Gene Autry visits patients at Cushman Hospital on July 15, 1949. Known as the Cushman Indian Hospital, it had originally housed the Puyallup Indian School. It provided care for Northwest Indian tribal members, especially in the field of tuberculosis. Mr. Autry, dressed in his trademark white hat, smiles at two adult male patients. He had also paid a visit to the children's ward that day. Mr. Autry would be appearing in a Western variety show at Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of the College of Puget Sound later that evening. ALBUM 8.

Singers; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; Autry, Gene, 1907-1998; Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Indians of North America--Tacoma--1940-1950; Sick persons;

In January of 1937, Julius Twohy was photographed as he stood on a scaffold to create a mural across the 72 foot long dining room wall at the Cushman Hospital at 2002 East 28th Street. The young Ute Indian artist from Seattle paused in his work to explain the story in his "Indian writing" to Dr. John N. Alley, superintendent of the hospital. The art work was part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. The mural, photographed here after three months of work, was projected to take another three months to complete. It told the legend of the Thunder Bird, the Indian weather god, in the language of Twohy's ancestors. The figures were outlined in thick black and would be filled in with brilliant red, blue, yellow and reddish brown. The artist was a member of the Ute tribe from the Uintah Basin in eastern Utah. (WSHS) (T. Times 2/13/1937, pg. 9- picture & article, 7/8/1936, pg. 13)

Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Indians of North America--Tacoma--1940-1950; Twohy, Julius; Alley, John N.;

Actor Duncan Renaldo, TV's "The Cisco Kid," poses with young patients at Cushman Indian Hospital on October 24, 1953 during a visit to Tacoma sponsored by the B&I Circus Store. In between public appearances at the B & I, Mr. Renaldo was ferried by Air Force helicopter to visit ill & disadvantaged children at the Indian Hospital, Rainier Buckley School for Boys, the childrens' ward at St. Joseph Hospital and Remann Hall. Mr. Renaldo is pictured with a young patient on a type of gurney, an autographed picture of the star resting on the boy's blanket. There is already a picture of "The Cisco Kid" and his famous horse "Diablo" on a nearby shelf. The patients and nurses alike seem to be fascinated with Mr. Renaldo's appearance; he was dressed in his trademark sombrero and Western clothing. ALBUM 7.

Renaldo, Duncan, 1904-80--Public appearances; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma);

Doctors and other medical personnel at Cushman Hospital appear to be preparing a patient for surgery under an array of bright lights on July 23, 1925. Cushman was a veterans hospital located at 2002 E. 28th St., the former grounds of the Puyallup Indian School. The government had built a modern hospital with up-to-date equipment to be used on ailing ex-servicemen. G30.1-001

Cushman Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1920-1930; Operating rooms--Tacoma--1920-1930; Sick persons; Veterans;

This is what the exterior of the Tacoma Indian Hospital looked like in October of 1954. A shortage of building materials due to WWII delayed the construction of the nearly $2,000,000 U.S. Indian medical center at the Cushman site. Construction was finally completed in April, 1943. In October, 1954, the hospital cut Native American care to treat only those with tuberculosis. The hospital had served 285 patients the previous year; the number had dropped to 250 in 1954. Native Americans from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest were eligible for care at this facility. When the TB level dropped, the hospital was closed in 1959 despite Northwest Native American requests to keep the facility open. It was demolished and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Bingo Hall and Emerald Queen Casino were built on this site. (TNT 10-14-54, A-9)

Tacoma Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Installation of new charter for the Cascadia Juvenile Reception-Diagnostic Center. Two men display the new charter from the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees on April 22, 1964 for the Cascadia Juvenile Reception-Diagnostic Center Employees, Washington, Local 368. The state had taken over the former site of the Tacoma Indian Hospital on E. 28th St. in 1961. Photograph ordered by the Washington Federation of State Employees, Olympia.

Charters--Tacoma; Labor unions--Tacoma--1960-1970;

• The Puyallup Indian School opened in 1860. It was renamed the Cushman Indian School in 1910, and then became Cushman Hospital in 1918. circa 1900.
• Printed on front: Puyallup Indian Reservation, School and Church, Tacoma, Wash

Veterans undergoing treatment at Cushman Hospital. Two men appear to be getting help for their backs on July 23, 1925, in Cushman Hospital's treatment room. A third man, barefoot, stares at a machine equipped with a gauge. Cushman would close as a veterans hospital in 1928 and reopen shortly thereafter to aid Indians with tuberculosis. G30.1-002

Cushman Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1920-1930; Sick persons; Veterans; Medical equipment & supplies;

On June 21, 1938, a $30,000 fire destroyed the two and 1/2 story wood frame commissary at the United States Cushman Indian Hospital. Four firemen with hoses are pictured spraying water on the burning building. The building was used to store foodstuffs and supplies for the hospital. It was located on the west side of the grounds so that the fire, despite its intensity, did not endanger the dormitories or wards. The building was fully engulfed when the first fire company arrived about 11:45p.m. on 6/20/38. The fight was hampered by a lack of water pressure from the hospital's tank. (T. Times, 6/21/1938, p. 1).

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1930-1940;

This aerial view of the area surrounding the Puyallup Indian Hospital, 2002 E. 28th St., was taken in August of 1948. On three sides of the large empty rectangle of land were the Laundry, top left; Commissary, bottom left; nurses' building, bottom; and the Cushman Hospital, right. The Puyallup Indian Cemetery was located in the area dotted with trees to the right of the Indian Health Services buildings. The Puyallup River and bridge can be seen in the background. The hospital, which was built between 1941-43, has been demolished.

Cities & towns--Washington; Aerial photographs; Aerial views; Indian reservations--Puyallup; Puyallup Tribal Health Authority (Puyallup); Puyallup Indian Cemetery (Puyallup); Puyallup Indians (Puyallup);

Western singer and motion picture actor Gene Autry (center with white hat) with a group of unidentified men at Cushman Indian Hospital on July 15, 1949. Mr. Autry made the most of his one-day stay in Tacoma with a visit to the Cushman Hospital to visit sick children, a radio broadcast on KMO, and capped it off with the Tacoma Athletic Commission - College of Puget Sound variety show at Memorial Fieldhouse. ALBUM 8.

Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; Musicians--Tacoma--1940-1950; Singers; Autry, Gene, 1907-1998; Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Indians of North America; Celebrities;

On July 15, 1949 a group of unidentified young patients at the Tacoma Indian Hospital, also known as Cushman Hospital, received a surprise visit from Gene Autry, the singing cowboy. A symbol of clean entertainment in western movies, radio and records (and later on television), Mr. Autry had flown into the Seattle-Tacoma Airport earlier that day at the controls of his private Beachcraft twin engine plane. He was in Tacoma as headliner of a 12-act western Musical variety show that was being presented that evening in the College of Puget Sound Fieldhouse. (TNT 7-15-49, p. 13, 7-16-49, p. 3) ALBUM 8.

Autry, Gene, 1907-1998; Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Indians of North America--Tacoma--1940-1950; Sick children; Children--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Western singer and motion picture actor Gene Autry is welcomed to Cushman Hospital on July 15, 1949. He is shown shaking hands with an unidentified man, perhaps a hospital official, while children wait in the background. Although Mr. Autry was in Tacoma for only one day as part of a large musical variety show, he made time to visit the sick children at the Cushman Indian Hospital on East 28th St. People were very familiar with Mr. Autry even before his long running television program, The Gene Autry Show on CBS (1950-55), due to his Melody Ranch radio program which ran from 1940-1956. His trademark theme song, "Back in the Saddle Again," was extremely popular. WWII Sgt. Gene Autry would go on to own several radio and television stations and become active in professional baseball as the owner of the (California) Angels. ALBUM 8.

Singers; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; Autry, Gene, 1907-1998; Hospitals--Tacoma--1940-1950; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Indians of North America--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shaking hands--Tacoma;

Parkland's Girl Scouts and Pack 33 Cub Scouts played Santa at Cushman Indian Hospital. The children presented toys they had built, trains and doll beds, to the children who are patients at the hospital. Left to right, Rosalie Russell, Louise Duffey, Robert Duffey, Wayne Thomas, David Melmin, Bill Ostenson, Marian E. Gaiser (background), Girl Scout leader, and Robert Thomas (background), pack leader. (T. Times, 12/21/48, p. 13).

School buses--Tacoma; Toys; Christmas--Tacoma; Christmas presents; Uniforms; Community service--Tacoma--1940-1950; Children--Clubs--Tacoma; Cub Scouts (Tacoma); Girl Scouts (Tacoma); Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma);

View of Cushman Hospital and neighborhood taken from McKinley Hill on March 6, 1927. This hospital for veterans was located in Tacoma's east side. It originally housed the Puyallup Indian School. In January of 1929, Cushman would close as a veterans hospital and reopen as a tuberculosis unit for the U.S. Indian Service. G8.1-097

Cushman Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1920-1930; Neighborhoods--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Aerial view of Tacoma's east side and Cushman Hospital. The hospital for veterans is the cluster of buildings in the center of this June, 1926, photograph. Surrounding homes are nestled in wooded lots.

Aerial views; Aerial photographs; Cushman Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1920-1930; Neighborhoods--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Cushman Indian School Convention Group portrait of Native Americans posed on the grass outside the Cushman Indian School, 2002 E. 28th St., in June of 1918. The school buildings became the Cushman Hospital the same year. G5.1-017

Group portraits; Meetings--Tacoma--1910-1920; Indians of North America--Tacoma--1910-1920;

These Native American girls were taking a sewing class at the Cushman Indian School on the Puyallup Reservation in June of 1918. The goal of Native American education from 1880-1920 was to assimilate the children into the dominant European culture, removing them from traditional Indian ways. One method was to remove them from their families and enroll them in government run boarding schools. By 1910, the Puyallup Indian School had become the Cushman Indian School, a large industrial boarding school, hosting over 350 students from the Northwest and Alaska. The school's focus was training the students for a place as a laborer in an industrialized America. During WWI the Red Cross entered into a partnership with schools to produce needed goods for the war torn countries. The girls in this photograph are probably sewing for the Red Cross. The boarding school closed in 1920. G39.1-163; TPL-2822

Cushman Indian School (Tacoma); Boarding schools--Puyallup Reservation; Sewing--1910-1920; Sewing machines--1910-1920;

Mrs. John N. (Hattie) Alley posed in the U.S. Indian Hospital gardens. Mr. Alley was the superintendent of the US Indian Service & Hospital. Mrs. Alley was opening her gardens for a tea given by the newly formed garden department of the Woman's Club. Mrs. Alley was the club's new president. (WSHS) (T. Times 7/13/1936, pg. 11)

Alley, Hattie; Cushman Indian Hospital (Tacoma); Hospitals--Tacoma--1930-1940;