Dr. Gerald Hass, a beloved local pediatrician and force for social justice, will be at the South End library on Tuesday March 17 at 6:30 PM to talk about his memoir, The Story of the South End Community Health Center: The Early Days. Hass, who was born in the UK, came to the South End on a medical fellowship in the 1960s when the neighborhood was considered the poorest in Boston, suffering from high rates of maternal and infant mortality. He returned here to practice pediatrics at what was then Boston City Hospital and now Boston Medical Center.

In 1969 he co-founded a children’s health clinic on Shawmut Avenue with a local businessman, Mel Scovell, which since became the non-profit comprehensive South End Community Health Center (SECHC). The now 86-year-old South End icon has written a memoir about his 45-year illustrious medical career, marked by a passion for the South End community and its residents, who returned his kindness with love and admiration. He retired in 2014.

The Dr. Gerald Hass Center is now a satellite health clinic focused on the students of the Blackstone School, and operated out of the same location as the original pediatric clinic at 400 Shawmut Avenue. The current SECHC became a comprehensive health clinic for people of all ages, and settled at 1601 Washington Street.

At the March 17 event, Hass will be introduced by his longtime friends, co-founder Mel Scovell and WBUR radio host of Con Salsa, Jose Masso.

Books will be available for purchase, signing and borrowing. Seating is limited.