A Century of Healing Book Now Available

A Century of Healing: Centennial Reflections on the John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital is officially available for purchase in stores around Thomasville. A Century of Healing, written by C.L. Bragg, represents the most complete compilation of Archbold history ever published. This 620-page book is the result of years of research and details the last century of Archbold's life-changing presence in our region.

Dr. C.L. "Chip" Bragg began the process of researching and this compendium of Archbold's history in 2020. With A Century of Healing, Dr. Bragg achieves a balance between careful and accurate documentation of facts and readability to craft a historical account that covers the facts but holds the general reader's interest. 

"A centennial history or institutional memoir of a hospital is not just the story of a brick-and-mortar building. Instead, the brick-and-mortar building is the story's setting of a people--a small Southwest Georgia town's doctors, nurses, patients, technicians, families, citizens, politicians, businesspeople, and "winter visitors"--and their healthcare," reads the book's jacket copy.

A Century of Healing tells the story of Archbold's journey from a small-town hospital to a regional hub. Archbold's major events, everyday stories of humanity, and the hospital's evolution alongside that of modern healthcare and Thomasville itself are each documented. The book traces the story of healthcare in our community from before Archbold's founding to the modern era. 

"Well-researched and beautifully written, A Century of Healing is more than just an extraordinary history of the John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital; it is a tribute to the dedication and compassion of the medical professionals who have served the hospital and community for the last 100 years," said Phillip C. Watt, MD, MPH. 

Thanks to the generosity of the book's underwriters, A Century of Healing is available for just $49.99. You can find the book for sale in the Archbold Auxiliary Gift Shop, The Bookshelf, and The Thomasville History Center. 

Archbold employees will receive a 25% discount on the purchase at the Archbold Auxiliary Gift Shop.

NOW AVAILABLE

Archbold Auxiliary Gift Shop

Archbold Memorial Main Lobby
915 Gordon Ave.
Thomasville, GA 31792
(229)228-2868
Employee Discount Available at the Auxiliary Gift Shop

The Bookshelf

126 S Broad St.
Thomasville, GA 31792
(229) 228-7767
Mail and Online Orders Offered at The Bookshelf

The Thomasville History Center

725 N Dawson St.
Thomasville, GA 31792
(229) 226-7664

Dr. C.L. "Chip" Bragg was born in Sumter, South Carolina, and raised in Augusta, Georgia. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1983, completed a residency in anesthesiology at MCG in 1986, and served in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps before moving to Thomasville in 1989. He practiced anesthesiology at the John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital for over thirty years before fully retiring at the end of 2022. 

Chip's lifelong passion for American history has resulted in publishing numerous articles and five books about the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War. Given his medical background, the transition from studying and writing eighteenth- and nineteenth-century military history to researching and writing about healthcare in Thomasville was natural.