Andrew Arthur Best

Image source: Andrew A. Best Photo

Dr. Andrew A. Best helped orchestrate the desegregation of East Carolina College, the Greenville business community, and Pitt County Memorial Hospital (today Vidant Medical Center). His motto, “To serve for the sake of service…. Let me give, and give freely to all humanity!” informed his efforts to advance human relations in every sphere.

Dr. Best suggested, in the early 1960s, that East Carolina proactively comply with the Brown vs. Board of Education decision declaring “separate but equal” facilities unconstitutional. President Jenkins agreed, and asked Best to find a student ready for the challenge. Best recruited Laura Marie Leary, a Vanceboro native with a distinguished high school record. In the fall of 1962, Leary was admitted as East Carolina’s first African American undergraduate. In 1966, she completed her degree in business administration. Leary’s profile in courage was multiplied by later students whose bravery in forging a new culture helped transform the campus in a peaceful, progressive manner. Later, Best worked with President Jenkins toward securing a medical school for East Carolina.

Dr. Best’s proactive approach also led him to partner with community leaders such as David J. Whichard (1927-2015), editor of The Daily Reflector; Reverend Richard Ottaway, head priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; and Ed Waldrop, a local businessman and East Carolina trustee. Together, they orchestrated the desegregation of downtown businesses by coordinating, with the business community, a systematic crossing of racial lines that once divided the town. Best was also a leading member of the Pitt County Interracial Committee. There, he stressed the need to “bring change through orderly evolution [rather] than let it come as a disorderly revolution.”

At Pitt Memorial, Dr. Best noted the disservice to patients resulting from segregated facilities. Along with Dr. Malene Irons, a pediatrician, and her husband, Dr. Fred Irons, the campus physician, Dr. Best organized support among staff physicians for desegregating the hospital. Dr. Ray Minges, then chief of staff, also backed the initiative. With Minges and the Irons, Best secured approval for admitting and treating patients regardless of race. Dr. Best also contributed to the desegregation of the North Carolina Medical Society and its cooperative relationship with the Old North State Society, an African American medical association.

In 1975, a statewide SBI sting operation resulted in the arrest, indictment, and conviction of Best for illegally dispensing controlled substances. Best appealed with support from several respected physicians who testified that he had acted within the bounds of a physician’s prerogatives, but the court ruled otherwise, upholding the verdict. That notwithstanding, Dr. Best continued to practice medicine in Greenville until his passing in 2005.

Best’s multifaceted contributions prompted his statewide recognition as a leader of orderly, progressive change. His leadership skills were recognized with appointments to the ECU Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors. Honoring his work and that of the Irons, the Greenville Human Relations Council established the Best-Irons Humanitarian Award to recognize those promoting improved human relations. In Greenville, the Andrew A. Best Freedom Park honors his work. In 2006, Dr. Best received, posthumously, ECU’s highest service award, the Jarvis Medal, in recognition of his distinguished service.

Sources

• “Best Gets Suspended Terms.” High Point Enterprise. November 20, 1975. P. 3A.
• “Conviction Supported.” Statesville Record and Landmark. Nov. 4, 1976. P. 2.
• “Jarvis Medal Awarded to Dr. Andrew Best.” ECU News Services. May 4, 2006. Web. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/newsstory.cfm?id=1025. Accessed April 12, 2017.
• Oral History Interview with Andrew Best, April 19, 1997. Interview R-0011. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• “Physicians Are Indicted.” Statesville Record and Landmark. May 13, 1975. P. 6.

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