Dr. Harvey Van Buren, the first African-American physician in Statesboro, opened his Van Buren Sanitarium on Elm Street in December 1918, Candra E. Teshome told the Bulloch County Historical Society. Note the year, 1918. "At the time, his practice was very important to the community because during the flu epidemic after World War I, he served the community, African-Americans and Caucasians in the community, at that location," Teshome said Monday.