The Story of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital By Mark Edgington

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital traces its beginnings back to a simple prayer. In the 1930s, a young entertainer named Danny Thomas was struggling to make a living. At a particularly low point, he entered a church and prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus, the apostle known in Catholic tradition as the patron saint of hopeless causes. His prayer was straightforward: “Help me find my way in life, and I will build you a shrine.”

Within a few years, Thomas’s career took off. He became a household name in radio, film, and television. But he never forgot that moment of desperation or the promise he made. As his success grew, he began searching for a way to fulfill his vow to St. Jude.

In the 1950s, Thomas decided that his shrine would not just be a church or a monument, but a place that offered real hope to families facing impossible odds. He envisioned a hospital where children with catastrophic illnesses could receive treatment regardless of their race, religion, or ability to pay. At the time, this idea was radical — most hospitals were segregated, and access to cutting-edge medical care was extremely limited for poor families.

With the support of friends, fellow entertainers, and the Lebanese American community (from which Thomas came), the dream took shape. In 1962, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened its doors in Memphis, Tennessee.

St. Jude Thaddeus

From the beginning, St. Jude was more than a hospital. It was also a research center dedicated to finding cures for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. One of its first and most important breakthroughs came in the 1960s and 70s, when researchers at St. Jude developed treatments that dramatically increased survival rates for leukemia, which had once been almost always fatal.

Over the decades, the hospital has become a world leader in pediatric research and care. Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food. The idea is simple: all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Today, St. Jude continues to expand its mission globally, sharing research and training doctors around the world. What began as a vow from one man during a desperate moment has grown into one of the most important medical institutions on earth.

— Mark Edgington

This article also appears on https://medium.com/@markedgington, where you can learn more about Mark Edgington’s ongoing work.