Mary Carson Breckinridge
Personal Information
Born: 1881
Died: 1965
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Rosemont-Dezaley Boarding School at Lausanne 1896-97; attended finishing school in Connecticut; St. Luke's Hospital of Nursing in New York RN 1910; Boston Instructive District Nursing Association, took a short, intensive course in baby welfare work; 1923 spent 4 months in England at British Hospital for Mothers & Babies & was certified as a midwife by the Central Midwives Board in 1924; Teacher's College of Columbia University took courses in Public Health
Professional Life
Field of Study: Public Health
Institution/Corporation: Frontier Nursing Service
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: University of Kentucky; Member: Kentucky State Association for Midwives (1930)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1982 American Nurses Association's Hall of Fame; Medaille Reconnaissance Francaise; 1952 Kentuckian of the Year, Kentucky Press Association; 1995 National women's Hall of Fame
Achievements: founder of Frontier Nursing Services that provided comprehensive medical care to the mountain people of rural Kentucky; served remote & impoverished areas accessible only by horseback; in France established the Child Hygiene & Visiting Nurse Service but her plans to establish a French teaching hospital for nursing were never realized; her memoir "Wide Neighborhoods" was published in 1952
2nd of 4 children born to her parents
was the granddaughter of vice President John C. Breckinridge
her father was an Arkansas congressman, US Minister to Russia (1894-1897), & administer of Indian Affairs
ran Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) from 1925 till her death, it still serves Southeast Kentucky with its headquarters in Hyden, with a hospital, 4 rural health clinics, a home health agency, & the FNS School of Midwifery & Family Nursing
resented that her brother received a quality higher education in private schools while she & her sisters received private tutoring at home & later attended "finishing" schools
spent 1894-97 in russsia where her father was sent by President Cleveland, experienced her 1st exposure to a trained midwife there on the occasion of her brother's birth when she was 14
used her inheritance from her Grandmother Lees (really her great aunt) to found FNS
learned to ride a horse at Oasis Plantation in the Mississippi Delta the home of her maternal Uncles
1st husband died of complications from appendicitis 2 years after they were married
2nd marriage resulted in the birth of 2 children, her son died at the age of 4 after an illness & her daughter was born prematurely & died after 6 hours
2nd marriage ended in divorce & she then dedicated herself to caring for children & mothers as a way to "keep being a mother"
spent 3 years (1919-21) with the American Committee for Devastated France during WWI
modelled FNS on Scotland's decentralized system after studying The Highlands & Islands Medical & Nursing Service
her father took care of the horses used by her staff
at the time of her death FNS had treated nearly 58,000 patients, delivered over 14,500 babies & had only 11 maternal deaths, and delivered ove one-quarter million vaccines; they reduced the indant & maternal mortality rate in the area from the highest in the USD to well below the national average
raised over $6 million to support FNS which allowed poor patients to pay small fees ranging from $2 for routine medical care to $50 for a birth or pay with food or items they could afford
held racist views, wouldn't hire Black midwives or share a table with a Black person, was an advocate for white superiority & wrote about eugenics & the value of segregation emphasizing brotherhood over equality
appeared on a US postage stamp in 1998
2010 an equestrian statue of her was dedicated in Hyden Kentucky
1931 had a serious fall from a horse & had to wear a brace for the remainder of her life
the FNS hospital in Hyden is now named the Mary Breckinridge Hospital