Danny Thomas was troubled by a news story about a young
African-American boy who died because he was refused admission to a
segregated hospital. This caused Thomas to want to show his thanks to
God and St. Jude by building a racially-neutral children's hospital in
the South. The final choice of Memphis as the location was influenced
by his mentor Cardinal Stritch, the Archbishop of Chicago, who
suggested Memphis (the site of his first parish).
Here's an excerpt from a Larry King interview with Marlo Thomas, the
daughter of Danny Thomas:
"[LARRY] KING: Why Memphis?
[MARLO] THOMAS: Well he wanted to put in it the south because he had
read one time in the paper; in fact he had it tacked on his wall,
about a young black boy who died because no hospital would take him
after an accident. So he said one time to us, as a family, he said I'm
going to put the hospital in the south because there was a lot of
discussion about putting it in Boston or putting it in St. Louis
connecting it to some of those great hospitals. He said let's put it
in the south and then Cardinal [Stritch] in Chicago said I'll help you
to put it in Memphis because that's where he was from, so they put it
in..."
CNN Transcripts
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/21/lkl.00.html
From the hospital's own website:
"And through all his success, Thomas searched for a way to fulfill his
vow to create a shrine for St. Jude Thaddeus. Thomas met with Samuel
Cardinal Stritch, the man who performed Thomas? Catholic confirmation
service, to talk about this 'shrine.' During the meeting, Thomas
blurted out, 'What about a hospital?' The Cardinal liked the idea and
steered Thomas to Memphis, Tennessee."
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: Danny's Dream
http://www.stjude.org/celebrities/0,2883,646_3848_9940,00.html
From the Daily Catholic's series, "TOP 100 CATHOLICS OF THE CENTURY":
"He had been contemplating what he would do to repay God for his good
fortune and kept looking toward the back country of the Mississippi
Delta to establish some kind of home or medical center to help the
very poor of Louisiana. In 1955 with his career well on its way, he
approached his mentor, Cardinal Samuel Stritch, then the Archbishop of
Chicago, and asked for his advice. The cardinal wasn't shy and
counseled Danny to look toward Memphis. It had been the location of
the cardinal's first parish. Even though Memphis already housed one
children's pediatric hospital - the LeBonheur Children's Medical
Center, Cardinal Stritch felt there was room for more and Memphis was
centrally located."
Daily Catholic: Danny Thomas Going beyond his promise to God for the children
http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/archives/1999Aug/151aug12,vol.10,no.151txt/aug12dc1.htm
Google Web Search: "danny thomas" "why memphis" OR "memphis because"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22danny+thomas%22+%22why+memphis%22+OR+%22memphis+because%22
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