A Forgotten Massacre Site? – Fmr. VP Taylor Remembers Phebe Hospital’s Dark Past

MONROVIA – Former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor has stepped up advocacy for for national recognition of Phebe Hospital Compound as a major civil war massacre site, shedding light on a forgotten chapter of Liberia’s history. Speaking at her father’s Life and Legacy celebration, Taylor emphasized the need for historical accuracy and national memory, highlighting the brutal killings of medical professionals and civilians on the compound in 1994. As The Analyst reports, she used the occasion to urge Liberians to reject violence and work towards a prosperous nation.

Former Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor has called on national authorities and historians to officially recognize Phebe Hospital Compound as one of Liberia’s major civil war massacre sites, saying the location witnessed mass killings during the country’s 14-year civil war but has been mostly forgotten in national remembrance.

Madam Taylor made the call on Saturday, December 20, while speaking to journalists at a family ceremony marking the Life and Legacy celebration of her late father, Mr. Moses Y. Howard, on Phebe Hospital Compound.

Mr. Howard, a medical personnel who served at the hospital, was killed during the Liberian civil war in September 1994.

She explained that her father, along with several other doctors and civilians, was brutally killed on Phebe compound, yet the site has never been formally acknowledged as a massacre location, despite the scale of the violence that occurred there.

According to her, numerous bodies, including those of medical professionals, remained on the hospital compound for nearly three months following the killings, as government authority had collapsed in the area at the time.

When control was later restored, the victims were buried on-site, as they were found where they had fallen.

She expressed gratitude to the Phebe Hospital administration, the Lutheran Church of Liberia, and local leaders for allowing the victims to be buried on the compound, noting that many families across Liberia were never able to locate the remains of their loved ones who died during the war.

 Madam Taylor emphasized that her call is not driven by bitterness but by the need for historical accuracy and national memory.

 She said the Phebe massacre deserves to be documented and discussed just like other well-known massacre sites across the country so future generations understand the full scope of Liberia’s civil war history.

 Reflecting on her father’s contribution to the hospital, she said Moses Howard was among the first generation of trained Lutheran medical professionals in Liberia. He and his wife were trained abroad through the Lutheran Church and later returned to serve in rural and urban Liberia, including Zorzor and eventually Phebe Hospital, where they worked for many years beginning in the 1960s.

During the height of the war, she said her parents returned to Phebe Hospital believing it was a central location where their medical skills were urgently needed to treat wounded civilians and displaced people fleeing violence from surrounding areas. That decision, she noted, ultimately led to her father’s death.

 On the broader national debate surrounding justice for war victims and calls for the establishment of a War Crimes Court, the former Vice President stated that she is not personally seeking justice for her father’s killing. Instead, she stressed reconciliation, peace, unity, and national healing.

She said the loss of her father cannot be undone and that nearly every Liberian family was affected by the war in one way or another—through killings, displacement, hunger, or disease.

According to her, Liberia’s future depends on dialogue, forgiveness, and collective commitment to peace rather than vengeance.

Madam Taylor urged Liberians to reject violence as a means of resolving differences and to work toward building a united and prosperous nation, emphasizing that war is never the answer and must never be repeated.

She believes recognizing sites like the Phebe Hospital Compound as massacre locations is not about reopening wounds, but about honoring victims, preserving history, and ensuring that Liberia never forgets the true cost of conflict.

Madam Taylor said the memorial service was organized because it was the first time in decades that most members of her family had gathered at the site.

Siblings and relatives traveled from the United States to honor their father and to find closure after many years of grief.