United States Army Base Hospital No. 50 was first organized in October 1917 at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. James Beaty Eagleson was named director of the base hospital. The unit mobilized at Fort Lawton on March 27, 1918 and received additional training at Camp Fremont, California before arriving in Mesves, France on August 6, 1918. Following the conclusion of World War I, it demobilized on May 5, 1919 at Camp Lewis, Washington.
On October 19, 1936, Base Hospital 50 was reconstituted in the Organized Reserves. At this same time, it consolidated with the 50th General Hospital under that name. 50th General Hospital was organized in 1937 in Chicago and ordered into active military service on September 4, 1942 at Camp Carson, Colorado. The unit was activated under the command of Colonel Rollo P. Bourbon and Executive Officer Lt. Colonel Hubbard T. Buckner. Lt. Colonel Buckner had served with Base Hospital 50 during World War I. Like in World War I, the unit was again organized from Seattle.
The 50th General Hospital departed Camp Carson on December 16, 1943, and stayed at Camp Myles Standish in Boston before sailing to the United Kingdom on December 29, 1943. By February 2, 1944, the entire unit had arrived at the 2d Evacuation Hospital at Cowglen Hospital in Boydstone, on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland.
During World War II, 50th General Hospital was also stationed at Carentan, France during the summer and fall of 1944 and at Commercy, France from November 1944 through August 1945. The unit was inactivated on October 27, 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.
50th General Hospital was once again ordered into active military service on November 21, 1990 in Seattle. It was released from active duty and reverted to reserve status on March 21, 1991.
After World War I, veterans of Base Hospital No. 50 formed a veterans' group that held annual reunions until they disbanded around 1986.
Sources: http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/hosp/0050genhosp.htm and https://www.med-dept.com/unit-histories/50th-general-hospital/
Organized into 5 accessions.
Illustrated history, regulations and reports, diagnosis cards, lists of enlisted personnel and veterans, financial records, notebooks, and ephemera of Base Hospital 50 and the 50th General Hospital, as well as its veterans' group.
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Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.
Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.
In addition to his military service and medical practice, Lt. Wilkins also served as both treasurer and president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, president of the Clarksdale and Six Counties Medical Association, chairman of the Coahoma County Welfare Board, board member and chairman of the First Methodist Church, president of the Clarksdale Rotary Club, commander of the American Legion, grand chef de gare of the Mississippi 40 and 8, and more.
Lt. Wilkins was married to Claire Elder Wilkins and had two daughters, Lou and Sylvia. He died in 1968 at the age of 79.