Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials. This month, she is sharing her article on turn-of-the (20th) century doctor, Nello Greenlee.
We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.
We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar “at” hotmail.com.
Sixteen years ago, the Phoenix Historic Preservation Office initiated several surveys of the cultural history of Phoenix. One group of researchers worked on compiling as comprehensive a history of the African-American community as possible. But some people were “missed.”
Nello Birthpath Greenlee was born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1886. Nothing is known about his childhood, but he did attend the University of West Tennessee College of Medicine and Surgery in Memphis where he received his medical degree in 1914.
Another blank period of Greenlee’s history followed that graduation with mentions of him in the New York City area unearthed in newspaper articles. By 1917, he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Army Officer Reserve Corps. He served in Company B367 Infantry which was a segregated unit in the 92nd Division. Shipped overseas to France in 1918, Greenlee’s group fought in the Battle of Meuse-Argonne where he probably was exposed to the toxic gases used in the battle which his unit oversaw.
Following his discharge in 1919, Dr. Greenlee moved to the Chicago area where he eventually worked for several years as a house surgeon at the Ft. Dearborn Hospital in Chicago and also spent some time in the U. S. Government service as a physician in charge of narcotic cases.
Dr. N. B. Greenlee then moved to Los Angeles, California where he may have heard about Dr. W.C. Hackett’s newly founded Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital. Greenlee and his wife, Dixie, arrived in Phoenix in probably 1924. He applied and received his Arizona medical license in January 1925, joining Dr. Hackett on staff at Booker T. Washington Hospital and also forming a private practice.
The Hacketts sold the Greenlees the lot in the Collins Addition where the Greenlees would reside. The Phoenix Tribune, a prominent newspaper in the Phoenix African-American community described the new home in glowing terms: a $10,000 palatial nine-room two-story home which was eventually painted white. The home would also have steam heat, a roof garden, and other modern conveniences found in rather expensive homes.
According to the newspapers of the time, Greenlee was quite the prominent person in the community. As a veteran, he joined the William F. Blake American Legion Post No. 40 and quickly became the post commander. He also invested in a lot of property and drove a stunning Pierce Arrow.
Tragically Greenlee’s health apparently suffered from that WWI gas exposure and he spent extended periods of time at the National Soldier’s Home in Sawtelle, California. During one of his confinements in California in 1933, his wife Dixie committed suicide citing despondency over financial losses. A year later, Greenlee committed suicide in Phoenix. The story of Dr. Nello B Greenlee ended then and he was eventually forgotten. Amazingly his “palatial” house remains.
