The Story Behind St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (2024)

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is arguably the most prominent cancer facility in the world. Between its cure rate, television ads, and mass mailings, many know its name and reputation.

“It’s the top place to partner with,” says Len Forkas, founder of Hopecam, which helps kids with cancer stay connected with school and their friends. “We doubled down to go with St. Jude when we were getting started, and it helped take us nationwide.”

The Story Behind St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (1)

Danny Thomas (seated) and Dr. Donald Pinkel.

Source: Courtesy of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude got its start when the actor Danny Thomas vowed to build a shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus if his career ever took wings. Kind of a personal deal with God.

Once Thomas became a household name in the popular television show, Make Room for Daddy, he discussed his plan with Catholic priest Samuel Stritch, a close friend, who urged him to build his hospital in the South. A city like Memphis.

But matters wouldn’t have gotten any farther without Dr. Donald Pinkel. The first director of pediatrics at the Roswell Park Cancer Center, Pinkel met with Thomas and others in Memphis in 1961. It was an easy stopover as Pinkel was heading to Denver to interview for a job there.

Early in the Memphis discussion, Pinkel asked Thomas’ board and members of the University of Tennessee Medical School if they would “accept all children, including black children, at this hospital, and that there would be complete integration in all levels—staff, nurses, everything?”

"Boiled, boiled"

There was an awkward silence until one of the university chairmen spoke up. He freely used the N-word and told Pinkel that a few black patients would be fine—as long as the planned hospital wasn’t overrun with patients of color.

Pinkel didn’t say a word, but inside he recalled, “I boiled, boiled, boiled. I thought, ‘Wow! That guy is giving me a challenge. To say I can’t do that.’”

Pinkel’s worst fears about the South had been borne out. After all, he had grown up in a large, liberal family in Buffalo, New York, where a large portrait of Abraham Lincoln hung on the wall. His ancestors had fought for the Union in the Civil War, and one of his great-uncles had been killed in the conflict. Personally, Pinkel vowed to never work in that part of the country because “there was so much prejudice down there.”

Pinkel continued west to Colorado, where he was offered “a sweetheart job.” The university already sported a state-of-the-art hospital right on campus, with quality staff and excellent students. It seemed to be an easy choice.

Yet what nagged at Pinkel was that he had been challenged by the university chairman in Memphis. Back in high school, a coach had warned Pinkel that you “never run away from a fight. It’ll be more and difficult the further you run to fight back.”

The next morning, Pinkel awoke and decided he would take the job in Memphis, building a hospital for Danny Thomas. His friends were stunned. His mentor, Mitchell Rubin, who was from Charleston, South Carolina, wrote Pinkel a long letter telling him, “You can’t do that.” But Pinkel’s mind was made up.

He reached out to Ed Barry, the chairman of the board for the new hospital, and Mike Tamer, the executive director for the American Lebanese Syrian and Association Charities. (Thomas was Lebanese). If they weren’t in his corner, Pinkel knew he had little chance of success in western Tennessee.

A deal is made

The three met at a neutral site—a hotel room at the Conrad Hilton in Chicago. There, Pinkel outlined his vision for the research hospital. How they would not only take care of all children, but the primary focus would be on kids with cancer and other supposed incurable diseases like muscular dystrophy. Barry, like Pinkel, was Jesuit-educated and one of the wealthiest, most influential men in Memphis. The two of them soon hit it off.

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“Our minds just met,” Pinkel said. “It clicked. We didn’t have to explain things. We were from the same background.”

In comparison, Tamer hadn’t finished high school, but he too believed strongly in civil rights. He urged Pinkel and Barry to sort out the details and he would focus on the big picture. At the end of the day, the three shook hands, and Pinkel officially took the job. A few weeks later, the doctor arrived in Memphis on the Feast of St. Jude, which he took as a good omen.

Pinkel remembered that his mother had a holy card with a special prayer from St. Jude, the Patron of Hopeless Causes. She urged him to say that prayer every night.

That said, if Pinkel had known what awaited him in Memphis, he would have thought twice about taking the post. By the time he arrived, the new hospital was already running out of money and he first had to become a fundraiser to assure that the patient wing was built.

Decades later, looking back on the move to Memphis, Pinkel said the job “was a very iffy proposition. But it sure got my attention. The people there told me they would support me, so I decided to find out.”

The new doctor in town soon became involved with the black community. When several local civil rights leaders were jailed and went on a hunger strike, Pinkel visited them and brought along infant formula. He told them to drink it to keep up their strength.

By the end of his first year, Pinkel had 126 patients at St. Jude. They were “girls and boys, black and white, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish,” Memphis magazine later detailed. Just as importantly, Pinkel had assembled a medical staff of 100, many of whom took some cajoling to move to the South.

Despite such early success, Pinkel realized that if he didn’t fix a problem with the local blood banks, little of the cancer research he was proposing would get off the ground. At the time, there was a steep markup from the donor level to the local hospitals in the Memphis area for blood. Pinkel’s new hospital was sometimes being charged as much as $35 a unit. So he appealed to the commanders at the Millington Naval Air Station, urging the naval personnel and Marines there to become regular blood donors. A system was worked out where men in uniform received weekend passes to Memphis for the blood donations they gave. Pinkel also recruited local college students and inmates at local prisons. In doing so, he formed the first volunteer donor system in western Tennessee and, as he said years later, “broke the back of the local blood banks.”

And that was one of the small steps that helped make St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital the force in medicine that it is today.

The Story Behind St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (2024)

FAQs

The Story Behind St. Jude Children's Research Hospital? ›

Our history

What is the controversy with St. Jude children's research hospital? ›

Jude's Children's Hospital, founded by the late actor Danny Thomas and endorsed by numerous celebrities, has been slammed in a just-out report for its financial practices, and for using at least half of its fundraising on administrative and marketing tasks. It also accused the Memphis hospital of “hoarding” its funds.

What percentage of donations actually go to St. Jude's? ›

We're proud that 82 cents of every dollar received goes to support the treatment, research and future needs of St. Jude.

Does Marlo Thomas own St. Jude's? ›

The daughter and eldest child of Danny Thomas, the renowned entertainer and founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Marlo proudly serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude.

Are Shriners and St. Jude's connected? ›

ALTHOUGH Danny Thomas, St. Jude's Founder, was a Shriner himself. Despite there being no affiliation between the two, the two hospital organizations do work together through unofficial channels to ensure the children in their care receive the best possible care.

Is St. Jude a good or bad organization? ›

Charity Navigator ratings

ALSAC and St. Jude have four-star ratings for accountability and finance from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator. The rating is based on an assessment of financial efficiency, sustainability and trustworthiness.

How much money does the CEO of St. Jude's make? ›

Name & TitleCharityCompensation
James R. Downing President/CEOSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital$1,546,372
Brian Gallagher Past CEOUnited Way Worldwide$1,538,953
Harry Johns Past President/CEOAlzheimer's Association$1,468,134
Deborah W. Brooks Co-Founder/CEOMichael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research$1,423,665
45 more rows
Oct 2, 2023

Who donated 50 million to St. Jude's? ›

Jude Patient Care Center was funded by AbbVie as part of a historic $50 million commitment in 2018. AbbVie's donation enabled the design, construction and program operations of Family Commons.

Why do charities ask for $19.00 per month? ›

One common theory links it to charities' obligation to provide a receipt for an annual contribution of $250 or more, per Internal Revenue Service rules. A $19 contribution across 12 months amounts to $228, less than the receipt-sending threshold.

Which charities give the least to the cause? ›

Here are some of the worst offenders:
  • Kids Wish Network.
  • Cancer Fund of America.
  • Children's Wish Foundation International.
  • American Breast Cancer Foundation.
  • Firefighters Charitable Foundation.
  • Breast Cancer Relief Foundation.
  • International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO.
  • National Veterans Service Fund.
May 6, 2024

What happened to Phil Donahue's first wife? ›

Donahue's 1958 marriage to Margaret Cooney produced five children—Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose, and James—but ended in divorce in 1975. She returned to her native New Mexico, remarried, and retired from public view.

What happened to Danny Thomas's daughter? ›

Thomas serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which was founded by her father Danny Thomas in 1962. She created the Thanks & Giving campaign in 2004 to support the hospital.

Who is the CEO of St Jude's hospital? ›

James R. Downing, M.D., is president and chief executive officer of St. Jude Children's…

What is the St. Jude's controversy? ›

Source: IRS, U.S. News & World Report. But for many families, treatment at St. Jude does not relieve all the financial burdens they incur in getting care for their children, including housing, travel and food costs that fall outside the hospital's strict limits, a ProPublica investigation has found.

What religion do Shriners follow? ›

Its only religious requirement is indirect: all Shriners must be Masons, and petitioners to Freemasonry must profess a belief in a Supreme Being. In order to further minimize any confusion with religion, the use of the word "Temple" to describe Shriners' buildings has now been replaced by the phrase "Shrine Center."

What is the highest rated children's charity? ›

Here are a few of the best Children's charities to support:
  • UNICEF.
  • Save the Children.
  • Plan International.
  • Malala Fund.
  • Barnardos.
  • Action For Children.
  • The Children's Society.
  • GIrls who Code.
Aug 2, 2024

Does St. Jude really help children? ›

Jude has helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% in 1962 to 80% today. We won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude has achieved a 94% survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

What percentage of children are cured at St Jude's? ›

Jude Children's Research Hospital 60 years ago, he said, “We're going to begin with leukemia and, by God's grace after defeating it, go on to other diseases.” Six decades later and the survival rate for ALL is 94 percent at St. Jude. The majority of kids diagnosed will go on to live long and happy lives.

What is the story behind St. Jude children's research hospital? ›

Danny Thomas opened the doors to St. Jude in 1962 with the dream that “no child should die in the dawn of life." Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80%, and we won't stop until no child dies from cancer.

What does St. Jude research and fight against? ›

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

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