The Body and Soul Clinic, which was ousted during the summer from the church of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bouwerie, owing, it was said, to prejudice against the Jews who comprised a large proportion of the patients, was reopened on Monday afternoon in temporary headquarters in a rented room in the Stuyvesant Casino, one block from the Church, and will hold its second session tomorrow afternoon.
To the two hundred patients who assembled to mark the re-opening of the clinic, Dr. Edward S. Cowles, director of the clinic, who has been indefatigable in his fight against the ouster from the church, stated that the controversy with the trustees of St. Mark’s has not ended.
On August 1st, Dr. Cowles, who had threatened to seek a court injunction to prevent the closing of the clinic, agreed to a suspension of its activities, for a period of one month, until September 1st, at the request of Dr. Norman William Guthrie, the rector of the church, in order, it was then stated, that the necessary repairs might be undertaken.
“No amount of racial prejudice can keep this clinic from going on,” Dr. Cowles asserted. He reiterated his charge that Bishop William T. Manning is responsible for the ouster. Bishop Manning at the height of the controversy, in a statement issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, denied Dr. Cowles’ charges that he is anti-Semitic.
“It has been carefully demonstrated by a careful examination of the facts that while St. Mark’s was technically closed by Dr. Guthrie, it was actually closed by Bishop Manning. Dr. Guthrie’s sympathy has been expressed from the beginning and his co-operation with the clinic has been evident from the first,” Dr. Cowles said.
The clinic is to be open three days weekly, Monday, Wednesday and Fri day, when treatment will be continued gratis.
The re-opening of the clinic, which had been in operation for ten years, has been made possible through gifts from donors who prefer to remain anonymous, Dr. Cowles said.
Since the closing of the clinic doors by the church, patients have been treated free at the private office of Dr. Cowles.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
