A home where a groundbreaking doctor practiced humanitarian medicine could soon be designated as historic.
Why it matters: Lula Belle Stewart-Robinson — the first Black woman to be a pediatric cardiologist in Michigan — led a career that reverberates to this day in civil rights and health care equity.
- Stewart-Robinson saw patients out of her house in Detroit’s Petoskey-Otsego neighborhood starting in 1955, per a historic designation board report .
- She died in 1965 at age 45 from leukemia. Her husband, educator and civil rights activist Phil Robinson, built a social services agency that continued her legacy by serving local young mothers and others for more than 30 years.
- The Lula Belle Stewart Center became a national model for serving teens and expectant parents.
Driving the news: Their youngest son, Michael Robinson, 66, tells Axios he now lives in the renovated home.
- The city approached Michael Robinson about the designation while seeking to honor women of Detroit’s history, he says.
- Memorializing the property as a city historic district still requires a City Council hearing, scheduled for Feb. 29, and approval, which Michael Robinson expects to happen around April.