At a time when Black people faced legalized discrimination and inequities in healthcare systems across the nation, Dr. Lula Belle Stewart-Robinson treated Black children in her home on Detroit’s west side. […] Now, the home of the first Black female pediatric cardiologist in Michigan is a step closer to becoming an official historic landmark.

“Healthcare was one of the major battlefronts of civil rights and Black progress,” [official City of Detroit historian Jamon Jordan] said. “People think about public accommodation – buses, lunch counters, water fountains, bathrooms – but the fight for equality in healthcare has been a very long fight that people don’t talk about enough. Dr. Lula Belle Stewart-Robinson’s house is a site where that battle was going on.”

Last spring, [Dr Stewart-Robinson’s youngest son] Michael Robinson began exploring the idea of getting the home a historic designation. He reached out to Janese Chapman, director of the city’s History Designation Advisory Board. Robinson said Chapman instructed him to gauge interest from the community.

A fascinating tribute to this neighborhood heroine.