Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research.

Preferred Citation

Fan Free Clinic Records, Collection Number M 344, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Historical Note

The Fan Free Clinic, Inc. was organized in Richmond, Virginia in 1970 by volunteer medical professionals, pastoral counselors and community volunteers. Three individuals, William Fitzhugh, an MCV resident, Mary File, an operating room nurse, and Robert Bluford, Jr., a director of the Presbyterian Church's work on college and university campuses over the south at the time, began planning in the summer of 1970 for what was to become the Fan Free Clinic. They opened the first Fan Free Clinic at 1103 Floyd Avenue in October 1970. Since then, the clinic has moved to several different locations. As of 2007, Fan Free Clinic is located at 1010 North Thompson Street. Initially, the free clinic was an emergency response to the medical and emotional issues that accompanied the influx of ill prepared young people into the inner city environment of Richmond's Fan District. Simultaneously, the free clinic found that its services were in demand by the broader inner city population. This varied clientele shared similar problems that had not yet been addressed adequately by the health care system.

As public health developed its responses to these rapidly growing community health issues, the free clinic was recognized and funded for its unique ability to reach persons at high risk who were reluctant to utilize public health facilities; reach and treat Richmond's homeless, indigent and/or sheltered population; provide volunteer services at low cost to public health's limited dollars; and provide services during night hours for persons who could not patronize clinics during traditional work hours.

In the 1970s, public health's emphasis in prevention was early diagnosis and treatment. Beginning in the 1980s, with the emerging AIDS epidemic, prevention education was prioritized. The free clinic was further recognized and funded for its experience in preventive communication with the targeted high risk populations and training and networking with service providers to bridge the gaps in service that result from indigency, fear and stigma. The free clinic's volunteer resources have stretched the available public monies to provide services at a level that otherwise could not have afforded.

As it remains today, the Fan Free Clinic's mission is to provide medical treatment, health education, and social services to those in the Richmond Metro area with limited access to care. The free clinic place special emphasis on welcoming the least served.

[Information taken from a Fan Free Clinic Manual with its written history, an excerpt taken from Robert Bluford, Jr.'s account of the formation of the Fan Free Clinic and the mission taken from the Fan Free Clinic website in March 2007, www.fanfreeclinic.org]

Scope and Contents

The collection includes correspondence, memorabilia, videotapes, newspaper clippings, numerous photographs, various organizational minutes and reports, Fan Free Clinic newsletters, posters, and advertisements, and other published materials on Fan Free Clinic. The collection dates from the early 1970s to 2006. Within the collection there is an extensive amount of newspaper clippings focusing on the role of the clinic in Richmond, videotapes and photographs focusing on the Fan Free Clinic programs, special events such as the AIDSWALK: Richmond and the Tour de Friends in 2003, and HIV/AIDS awareness efforts and fundraisings.

Arrangement

The contents of this collection are arranged chronologically and alphabetically in seven series: Series I: Newspaper Clippings (1982-2007, undated); Series II: Organizational Files (1971-2005); Series III: Publications (1971-2006,undated); Series IV: Memorabilia (circa 1980s-2000s, undated); Series V: Videotapes (1989, 1993, 2003, undated ); Series VI - Oversize (undated); and Series VII - Photographs and Slides (1980s-2000s, undated).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Clinics -- Archives. -- Virginia -- Richmond
• Community Health Centers.
• Fan Area Historic District (Richmond, Va.)
• Fan Free Clinic (Richmond, Va.)
• Public health -- Virginia -- Richmond.
• Schanz, Norma