1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Mary Breckenrich was born February seventeenth, eighteen eighty one, 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,640 Speaker 1: so we are bringing out our episode on her as 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: Today's Saturday Classic, So enjoy. Welcome to Stuff You Missed 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome 5 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm Tracy you Wilson. 6 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: So today we're going to talk about the topic that 7 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: a lot of people have requested, the one that I 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: have noted as the most recent requester. So our listener, Amy, 9 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: I'm a little worried. I'm going to confess because we've 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: talked before in the show about pioneers who advanced the 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: medical field, specifically as it relates to infants. They're usually 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: super uplifting and really great stories. Today's subject definitely adds 13 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: to that medical improvement for the health of children, but 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: it also has some problemic elements, and I don't know 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: that people who have requested it necessarily know those problematic parts, 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: and they may be disappointed to discover them. I have 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: several things that are on not the specific topic that 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: we're about to talk about, but several things on my 19 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: episode suggestion list that I know that people who have 20 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: asked for it are expecting like a one hundred percent affirming, 21 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: uplifting story, but there's like a bad side to it that. Yeah. Yes, 22 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: I was describing this story to my husband in the 23 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: car this morning, as I often do, sort of as 24 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: a way to make sure I've got bases covered and 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: you know, all the logic flows, and he said, I 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: feel like history is full of this one m Night 27 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Shyamalan plot twist where people seem amazing and then they 28 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: turn out to have like this horrible thing about them. Yeah, 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: usually racism. I was like, Yeah, a really good way 30 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: to put it, especially this particular time period. Yes, so 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: we're talking about Mary Breckinridge. She is known as the 32 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: founder of American nurse midwiffery, and she's an iconic figure 33 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: in Kentucky. But as we have just alluded to their 34 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: problematic parts of her ideology, here's some udenis we're going 35 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: to get to you. Yep. So we're gonna talk first 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: about sort of her life and what led her to 37 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: do this, and then at the end we'll discuss these 38 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: problematic elements. Yeah, so let's hit it. Mary Breckinridge was 39 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: born in Memphis, Tennessee on February seventeenth, eighteen eighty one. 40 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: Her father, Clifton Rhodes Breckinridge, was a congressman from Arkansas, 41 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: so she spent a lot of her childhood in Washington, 42 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: d C. Yeah, he's an interesting figure too. There's like 43 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: a whole scandal, a voting scandal related to his political career, 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: but maybe for another episode. After Washington, the Breckenridges moved 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: eventually across the globe to Saint Petersburg, Russia, when her 46 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: father was appointed US Minister to Russia. And Mary's education, 47 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: as you may guess from this life of being in 48 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: a pretty prominent family, was one of privilege. She attended 49 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: private schools in the US in Stanford, Connecticut and at 50 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: the Lausanne, Switzerland, and she had private tutors in Russia 51 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: as well. Basically everywhere they went she had the best 52 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: possible education. At the age of eighteen, Mary moved to Arkansas, 53 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: where she lived until her marriage to Henry Ruffner Morrison, 54 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: who was a lawyer. In nineteen oh four. Mary was 55 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: widowed after just two years with her husband when Morrison 56 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: died because of acute appendicitis. Still sort of dealing with 57 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: this loss Breckinridge enrolled in school again, this time in 58 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: New York City at a nursing school at Saint Luke's Hospital. 59 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: She graduated and became a registered nurse. In nineteen ten, 60 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: six years after the death of her first husband, Mary 61 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: got married a second time, this time to the president 62 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: of a woman's school in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Richard Ryan Thompson. 63 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: Mary started to work at the school as a teacher. 64 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: Her international education lent itself to teaching language, specifically French, 65 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: and she also taught classes on hygiene. In nineteen fourteen, 66 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: Mary and Richard had a son, Clifton brick and Ridge Thompson, 67 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: who they nicknamed Brecky. Two years later, in nineteen sixteen, 68 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: they had a second child, this time a daughter named Polly, 69 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: and they were very excited about it, but their joy 70 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: was abruptly cut short when she died just six hours 71 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: after her birth. Mary wrote of this loss quote aggrieved 72 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: for the life she had missed, the splendid work she 73 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: might have done, the human motherhood she might not know. 74 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: Two years later, four year old Brecky also died just 75 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: days after his birthday. He got sick. He underwent surgery 76 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: to address what doctors thought was an intestinal blockage. It 77 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: became immediately clear that he had a serious abdominal infection, 78 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: and he never recovered. This death not only struck her 79 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,280 Speaker 1: to the core as a grieving parent, but it also 80 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: really made Mary fear for her work and how it 81 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: would be perceived by the public. She had been writing 82 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: for several years about how to raise healthy children, and 83 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 1: she had, in the course of two years, lost both 84 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: of her her own. She was worried that people would 85 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: think that that meant she didn't know what she was 86 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: talking about. Throughout the rest of her life, she believed 87 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: that Becky was ever present in a spiritual sense and 88 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: that she could communicate with him on the other side. 89 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: The strain of losing two children also took a toll 90 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: on her marriage. Mary experienced bouts of depression which continued 91 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: through her life, and her husband, Richard, was not faithful. 92 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: Mary left Richard in nineteen eighteen while World War One 93 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: was still playing out, and she applied to work with 94 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: the American Red Cross as a nurse in Europe, but 95 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: she had to wait for an assignment. In case you 96 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: are ever looking at information about her life, we didn't 97 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: go into it. They will often list her divorce as 98 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty, which is when the divorce papers actually happened, 99 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: but they had been apart for two years by that point. 100 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: This reason for her delay, though in joining the Red Cross, 101 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: was due to the rule that no one with a 102 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: brother actively serving in the military could be sent to 103 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: areas where the war was taking place. This was in 104 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: order to preserve the family in the likelihood that the 105 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: place that the brother was stationed got bombed or rated 106 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: or attacked in some way, and like a family would 107 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: not lose multiple children at once. Since Mary had a 108 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: brother serving at the time, but really felt strongly that 109 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: she could make an impact on the children of Europe 110 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: who needed assistance, she and her mother went to visit 111 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: the head of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, Jane Delano, 112 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: and sort of plead her case to get around the rule. 113 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: Delano agreed that Mary would be an asset, but she 114 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: still couldn't send her because of the brother rule. While 115 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: Delano worked on Mary's behalf, Breckinridge took on a three 116 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: month assignment, traveling through the country collecting data on the 117 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: state of children's health and giving speeches. Yeah, and just 118 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: to be clear of that country is the US. She 119 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: went far west and visited a variety of places, and 120 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,119 Speaker 1: when Mary was finally clear to join the Red Cross 121 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: Children's Bureau in France, she first went to Washington, d C. 122 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: To make arrangements and fill out the necessary paperwork. But 123 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: this actually ended up being quite a detour. So this 124 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 1: was happening, you'll recall in nineteen eighteen, and Washington, d C, 125 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: like many other places, was hit really hard by the 126 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: influenza epidemic, which we have talked about on the show before. 127 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: As a nurse, Mary was desperately needed, so she volunteered 128 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: to help. Almost immediately after seeing how badly overtaxed the 129 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: medical services in the area were, and after she first 130 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: asked Jane Delano if she could delay her trip to 131 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: France a little while longer, this volunteer job almost immediately 132 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: became more than Mary had anticipated. She later wrote in 133 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: her autobiography quote, the head nurse of my area fell 134 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: ill soon after I reported for duty, so that I 135 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: was plunged into the direction of nursing care for thousands 136 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: and thousands of stricken people. I don't recall how many 137 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: patients we had in my district at the peak of 138 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: the epidemic, but it could not have been less than 139 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: forty thousand. Nor do I remember how many nurses I 140 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: had to help me, but I don't think there were 141 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: more than five. We used hundreds of aids for the 142 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: day and nightcare of the patients with pneumonia and the 143 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: families where everybody had come down with influenza. Many of 144 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: these aids were clerks turned over to us for the 145 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: emergency by the government bureaus, and only a few of 146 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: them had received training and home care of the sick. 147 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: To compound matters, this situation was so chaotic as medical 148 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: personnel and people who had sort of been requisitioned into 149 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,679 Speaker 1: being medical personnel to keep up with the ever growing 150 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: roster of patients, that records were a little bit haphazard, 151 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: she notes in her autobiography, like some of the reasons 152 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: clerks tended to write things about the decease that had 153 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: more to do with their area of knowledge than actually 154 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: were really relevant to the illness. Like one person worked 155 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: for the government and they talked about how one of 156 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: the deceased patients had been sacking away sugar, like she 157 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: had been kind of hoarding sugar, And it was like 158 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: this isn't relevant to her medical information at all. Why 159 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: are you putting this? But it was just the mindset 160 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: of his or her I don't know the gender. The 161 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: previous job made them think of things in those terms. 162 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: Bed Bugs were also a really bad problem in the 163 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: area that year, so nurses were fighting both influenza and 164 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: infestation of their patients' homes. When the influenza epidemic had passed, 165 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: Mary went back to preparing to join the Red Cross, 166 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,839 Speaker 1: but her passport and loyalty papers had a longer processing 167 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,839 Speaker 1: time than she'd anticipated. Unwilling to just wait, she filled 168 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: the time with the Boston Instructive District Nursing Association, where 169 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: she furthered her education after an abbreviated version of the 170 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: association association's training courses. She worked in underprivileged neighborhoods and 171 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: tenements in Boston. She later said of the experience, quote, 172 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: I was to be grateful a thousand times over after 173 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: I got to France of all that I learned in Boston. 174 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 1: By the time she had her passport, it was after 175 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: November eleventh, nineteen eighteen, and the war was over, but 176 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,719 Speaker 1: she still felt compelled to go, and so she made 177 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: arrangements to be released from her obligation to the Red Cross, 178 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: which was no longer sending medical personnel to France, and 179 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: then she did travel to France to work with the 180 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: American Committee for Devastated France. That was an organization founded 181 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: by JP Morgan's daughter, Anne Morgan, in which Mary deeply loved, 182 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: second only to the one that she would later found herself. 183 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about Mary's work in France, but 184 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: first we will pause for a little sponsor break. The 185 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: loss of her children had really been Breckinridge's inspiration to 186 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: doggedly pursue work in children's health, and she never lost 187 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: that sense of calling. She had been interested in children's 188 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: health before then, but she really became hyper focused on 189 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: it after that, and she had been able to focus 190 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: some of her public health work in Boston and Washington, 191 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: d C. On the needs of children, and she obviously 192 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: was working in that area as she toured the country 193 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: for her reporting assignment with the Children's Bureau. She then 194 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: carried that focus and passion for the care of children 195 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 1: to Europe as well. In her work with the ACDF, 196 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: she started a program that focused on the needs of 197 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: pregnant women children and nursing mothers, providing both medical care 198 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: and vitally needed nutrition. Even though the war was over, 199 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: there were still heavy restrictions on where she could travel, 200 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: so she had to once again wait for a military 201 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: permit to travel into the war zone. Once she finally 202 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: was approved, she saw immediately that the people of France 203 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: needed all the basics clothing, bedding, and above all food. 204 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: She wrote quote in the parts of France occupied by 205 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: the Germans, it was not a question of the people 206 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: returning to their shattered homes, because they were already there 207 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: when the Germans withdrew. But all around them the ground, 208 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: the bridges, the roads were destroyed so that it was 209 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: almost impossible to get supplies to them. In some villages 210 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,359 Speaker 1: in the Nord, people had to be fed by airplane. 211 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 1: With such widespread destruction, the problem of transport assumed gigantic proportions. 212 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: One of the vital parts of rebuilding the country that 213 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: Mary was directly involved in was acquiring wheat seeds so 214 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: that rural areas would be able to plant crops. She 215 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: personally delivered the requests for wheat and as the women 216 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: chauffeurs in their organization were the only ones who were 217 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: managing regular transport in the area. They delivered all of 218 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: the wheat seed that ended up in the ground for 219 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: that following spring. Even so, getting crops back up and 220 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: running was actually quite dangerous because the fields were filled 221 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: with buried explosives, and farmers who accidentally hit them while 222 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: digging often died or required really extensive medical treatment. The 223 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: ACDF also helped people re establish their households. In addition 224 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: to seeing that they got seeds to plant, crops and 225 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: medical treatment, they also assisted by helping them get low 226 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 1: or no cost furnishings and providing small animals to farms 227 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: like rabbits and chickens. And throughout all of this, the 228 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: nurses and other personnel working under the umbrella of the 229 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: American Committee for Devastated France were living in really rough 230 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: conditions themselves. Public works such as water and electricity services 231 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,439 Speaker 1: were not restored for quite some time, and the nurses 232 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: lived in a building that had been severely damaged by bombings. 233 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: Mary wrote quote the American Committee for Devastated France was 234 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: a masterpiece of an organization, not only in its handling 235 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: of direct relief under baffling difficulties, but in later developments 236 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: that were to be integrated into the very heart of 237 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: French life. Mary really fell in love with the people 238 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: of France, and she wrote in one letter to her 239 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: mother that she saw so many families trying to fight 240 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: their way back from malnourishment after the war. She wrote, quote, 241 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: if I could give right now a goat to every 242 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: family that has a baby, I think we could go 243 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: far towards saving many that are dying. There is such 244 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: grip and pneumonia among them that they have no powers 245 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: of resistance. I wish I had a thousand goats right now. 246 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: I wish I had fifty. This goat thing is my 247 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: favorite part of her story. Nine too. Mary's mother passed 248 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: the letter around friends and family, and soon donations of 249 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: money for the purchase of goats poured in to the ACDF. 250 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: Mary would later call this project her goat crusade because 251 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: she also had to raise funds for feed for the 252 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: goats for their breeding, and letters back home to each 253 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,959 Speaker 1: donor to tell them about the family who was benefited 254 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: from their generosity. Yeah, that was kind of before a 255 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: lot of the modern charity organizations do things like that. 256 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: But she was naming goats for families that had bought 257 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: them and then you know, would keep these correspondences going 258 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: of like here's how the family that got your goat 259 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,079 Speaker 1: is doing, which pretty interesting. There's a really great story 260 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: in her autobiography about the first truck, which I think 261 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: had twenty nine goats. Like she opens the door and 262 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: there was one goat that had apparently like destroyed a 263 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: bunch of their medical supplies had like eaten baby bottles, 264 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: which was like, I don't even care. I'm so glad 265 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: the goats are here. And while she was in Europe, 266 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: she also became acquainted with midwiffery practice in both France 267 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: and England, and she felt that it should be established 268 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: in the United States as well. Ever, eager for education, 269 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: I have to admit that problematic though she is, I 270 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: admire her constant quest to be educated, Breckinridge decided to 271 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: formalize her learning on this subject, and she studied midwiffery 272 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: in several different schools in Great Britain and was certified 273 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: by the UK's Central Midwife. And we should note this 274 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: isn't the first time that Mary Beckenridge had been exposed 275 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: to the concept of a midwife assisted birth, and her 276 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: family was in Russia, her mother had a midwife in 277 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: attendance at the birth of Mary's younger brother, and that 278 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 1: had made an impact on her. And as we're going 279 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: to talk more about later, like midwiffery has been along, 280 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: as has been around in some way as long as 281 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: babies have been Yeah, and in Yeah, she isn't like 282 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,479 Speaker 1: she discovered it now, just kind of how she's sometimes 283 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: framed in the US. Yeah, we had no idea this 284 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: was the thing, and it's like no, no, no, no, no, 285 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: we're talking about more formal eyes midwiffery training and programs. Additionally, 286 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: she also studied how pre war France had provided for 287 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: infant care, and she learned that the Public Assistance Office 288 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: had this program which allowed new parents to bring their 289 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: babies to a government office, usually like a town hall, 290 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: where a doctor would be for weighing and for advice 291 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: on their care, and that there was also a service 292 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: in some cities of France which provided baby milk stations, 293 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: but there wasn't much education for parents in how to 294 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: handle milk and some of the other medical needs their 295 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: child might have. She saw what she felt was a 296 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: gap in the system in the lack of parent education, 297 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: and she decided that a visiting nurse service could fill 298 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: that gap, so she set up a demonstration version so 299 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: that it could get some data on its successes. Soon 300 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: she was asked to expand the program, and she had 301 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: to really scramble to find properly trained nurses to staff it. 302 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: Yeah her little experiment, people were like, this is great. 303 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: Can you widen your area of coverage? And she was like, 304 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: uh oh. Before long, her nurses were seeing to the 305 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: general health care needs of the communities in which they worked, 306 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: and not just prenatal and early childhood care. She was 307 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: really pleased with her success in this endeavor, but the 308 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: administrative duties that it required took her away from the 309 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: hands on nursing that she loved so much, And as 310 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: her role with the American Committee for Devastated France grew, 311 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: Breckenridge was offered a car and a chauffeur to drive 312 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,600 Speaker 1: her as needed, but she opted to actually pool those 313 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: recals with the other drivers who were already helping to 314 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,719 Speaker 1: deliver aid. Mary also traveled to Scotland to expand her 315 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: medical knowledge while she lived in Europe. There she studied 316 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: a nursing service that cared for a largely rural and 317 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 1: decentralized patient base. Yeah, that sort of helped her form 318 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: a model for her later work. In nineteen twenty one, 319 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,360 Speaker 1: Mary was ready to return home to be near her parents. 320 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: They were getting older and she definitely felt a poll 321 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: to be with them. She also felt that the programs 322 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: that she had worked to establish in France had reached 323 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: a point where they could continue without her, and she 324 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: felt that it was really important that they do so. 325 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 1: She was aware that she couldn't stay there and direct 326 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: all of this forever. She wasn't exactly sure what she 327 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: would do next, but she wrote in a letter to 328 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: her mother, quote, I know that the way leads back 329 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: over the ocean to the country where my own children 330 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: were born and where they are buried, the country whose 331 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 1: development my own people have furthered for nearly two hundred years. 332 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: Despite this resolve, she actually felt really conflicted about leaving France. 333 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: There was pressure to stay and develop nursings programs for France, 334 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: and for her last year she worked tirelessly to fulfill 335 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: this request, only to have effort after effort fall flat. 336 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: She felt in some ways as though she had failed, 337 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: but having friends and associates remark on the incredible improvement 338 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,439 Speaker 1: of the health of France's children really bolstered her. And 339 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: next we're going to delve into the project that consumed 340 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: the rest of Mary Breckinridge's life, in which became her 341 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: claim to fame. But before that, let's take a little 342 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: break and have a word for one of our sponsors. 343 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: Once Mary was back in the United States, she again 344 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: opted for additional education, and she took classes at Teachers 345 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 1: College of Columbia University that focused on public health nursing. 346 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty five, Mary Breckinridge relocated to Leslie County, 347 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,239 Speaker 1: Kentucky to try to make her idea a reality. She 348 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: had inherited money from her mother, who had passed away 349 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,360 Speaker 1: not long after Mary returned to the United States used 350 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: her inheritance to found in fund the Frontier Nursing Service. 351 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: Her concentration for the service was on prenatal and early 352 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: childhood care, which harkened back to her experiences with the 353 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: families in post war France. She wrote quote in France, 354 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: I felt, as I was to feel later in the 355 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: Kentucky Mountains, that a program for children should begin before 356 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: the children are born and should place emphasis on the 357 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: first six years of life. So she chose the Appalachian 358 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: Mountain area for a number of reasons. I know some 359 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: people like to pronounce it Appalachian. We all do it differently. 360 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: This one is one where I'm good with what I like. 361 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: I grew up in North Carolina and spent seven years 362 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: in western North Carolina, and I say Appalachian. Yeah, I 363 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: mean I grew I was in Florida when I think 364 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: I probably learned that word and they I was taught 365 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: it as Appalachian. But no disrespect to anybody who prefers 366 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: the other pronunciation. I'm just saying, whichever way we say it, 367 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,239 Speaker 1: somebody will be chagrined. So she chose this area, as 368 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: I said, for a number of reasons. First, it was 369 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: woefully underserved medically, and most of the residents were too 370 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: poor to travel elsewhere for care. Second, because her family 371 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: had Southern roots, she believed that she would be able 372 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: to use their prominence to garner funding for her program. 373 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: And third, she was kind of thinking long term, and 374 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: she thought if she could manage to launch a nursing 375 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: service successfully in the decentralized communities of the mountains, covering 376 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: roughly seven hundred square miles, it would be a clear 377 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: proof of concept that similar programs could work almost anywhere. 378 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: So to be clear, it wasn't as though Mary Breckenridge 379 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,880 Speaker 1: was the first person in the United States to think 380 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,199 Speaker 1: midwiffery should be instituted here. And as we said earlier, 381 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,439 Speaker 1: there was more informal midwhiffery going back generations. Even in 382 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: the area of Kentucky where she set up her service, 383 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: there were lay midwives who delivered babies like that has 384 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: been a thing pretty much always, but they didn't have 385 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: actual medical training. Yeah. I think they're referred to in 386 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: uh I'm not sure if it's her autobiography or another 387 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: paper that I was reading about her where they're called 388 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: granny midwives. And it's basically like, you know, an older, 389 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: experienced woman who has been through childbirth herself and then 390 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: kind of helps later generations do the same thing. Well. 391 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 1: And when a birth goes smoothly, that's often fine, right, 392 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: That's yes, that's often the care that is needed is 393 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: that kind of help. But when things don't go smoothly 394 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: that you want medical training, right, Yeah. And it was 395 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: of course really hard to get this service up and running. 396 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: This was a mountain situation spread all over the place, 397 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,399 Speaker 1: but over time Mary established a home visitation service so 398 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: that patients could receive care without traveling themselves, as well 399 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: as a number of district nursing centers and eventually a hospital. 400 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,719 Speaker 1: Mary's work had obvious results. After her service had been 401 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: established and she had been providing education to nurse midwives 402 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:52,200 Speaker 1: in Kentucky, the region's neonatal and maternal death rates dropped. 403 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,360 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty eight, the FNS opened Heiden Hospital, which 404 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: had twelve beds thanks to money raised through donors. It 405 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: soon ext banded to offer eighteen beds and eight bacinets, 406 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: and an expansion in nineteen forty nine increased patient capacity 407 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: to twenty five beds and twelve bacinets. As a direct 408 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: result of Mary's work and the success of the Frontier 409 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 1: Nursing Service, the American Association of Nurse Midwives was founded 410 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,479 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty nine, just four years after Breckinridge had 411 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: founded her service. In nineteen thirty one, Mary's cousin, Marvin 412 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: Breckinridge Patterson, directed a film which was called The Forgotten Frontier, 413 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: and it promoted the importance of the Frontier Nursing Service 414 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: and the types of care it offered. The film, which 415 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: is silent, opens with title cards that read, quote, do 416 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: you know that America is still a frontier country for 417 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: about fifteen million people with almost no medical, nursing or 418 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: dental care, and that in our history we have lost 419 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 1: more women in childbirth than men in war. According to 420 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: that documentary, the maternal mortality rate in the Appalachian Mountains 421 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: was cut by more than two thirds thanks to the 422 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: Frontier Nursing Service. Scenes in the film are reenactments of 423 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 1: previous events played out by the same people who were 424 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: involved originally and volunteered to recreate moments in there from 425 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: their interactions with the FNS. Yeah. The film features shots 426 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: of Wendover, which was the log cabin that served as 427 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: administrative building and nursing center and guest quarters for the service, 428 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,879 Speaker 1: and it makes it very clear just how remote the 429 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: patients being served by this service were. Guests in the film, 430 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: arriving at the nearest train station had to travel twenty 431 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: five miles by car and then switch to horses before 432 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: they could get to that central headquarters because the road 433 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: ended abruptly and there was nothing but trail after that. 434 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: One of the visitors to the FNS asked how the 435 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: nurses managed to get to their patients during the winter, 436 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: and the reply was, Oh, it's our most important work, 437 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: so of course we go in any kind of weather. 438 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: Nurses were shown on horseback crossing icy rivers in winter 439 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: to deliver babies, and in another scene, a man is 440 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,439 Speaker 1: carried on a makeshift stretcher for seven hours to get 441 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: to the hospital after receiving a gunshot wound. You can 442 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: actually watch this entire documentary online. I will link to it. 443 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: There's an archival version of it that is available. And 444 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: this documentary had a really clear purpose. It wasn't just 445 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: like a hey, this is neat. It was intended to 446 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 1: help promote the frontier nursing service and more importantly, drum 447 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: up donations. This entire enterprise was privately funded from Mary's 448 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,720 Speaker 1: inheritance as we mentioned before, and from donations, and while 449 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,400 Speaker 1: the FNS continued its work over the next two decades, 450 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: that remained how it kept going through donations. It didn't 451 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: receive any sort of government funding. I don't think until 452 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties no patient was ever turned away if 453 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 1: they couldn't pay, but they could offer a trade of 454 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: goods for care. The nurses were authorized to accept that. 455 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: But if they could offer nothing, they still got treatment. 456 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: It seems like that two thirds mortality drop from a 457 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,400 Speaker 1: promotional documentary might be a little inflated, but still there 458 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: was an obvious positive impact. Yeah, in the nursing service. Yeah, 459 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: it's a little tricky. That's one of the things that 460 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: it would be an easy number to fudge because a 461 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: lot of the people in those remote areas were not 462 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:06,919 Speaker 1: necessarily reporting things like bursts and mortalities regularly to the government, 463 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: so we don't know how accurate. But I agree it 464 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 1: seems a little Yes, that's a big number. Yeah, it 465 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: is a big number. But like unquestionably, having access to 466 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: basic medical care that wasn't there before would have made 467 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: a big difference. World War Two impacted the way in 468 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: which the nurses for the FNS were trained. Before nineteen 469 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: thirty nine, many of the nurses were sent to Great 470 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 1: Britain to train as midwives, just as Mary herself had done, 471 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: but the tensions in Europe surrounding the war made that unsustainable, 472 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: and it was then that Breckenridge founded the Frontier Graduate 473 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: School of Midwiffery. The school continues today under the name 474 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: Frontier Nursing University. Yeah, obviously it has changed and involved 475 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: and modernized, but it is still the thing that has 476 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: grown out of that core entity. In nineteen fifty two, 477 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: Mary published her autobiography, which was titled Wide Neighborhoods The 478 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: Story of the Frontier Nursing Service. Once again, this was 479 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: at least in part, a way to make money for 480 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,680 Speaker 1: or the FNS. The proceeds from the sale of the 481 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: book went right back into keeping the people of rural 482 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: Kentucky care for and educated about their health. Breckinridge died 483 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: on May sixteenth, nineteen sixty five, in Hyde in Kentucky. 484 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: She worked right up until the end. I mean she 485 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 1: literally she had fallen off a horse at one point 486 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,239 Speaker 1: and had to wear a brace, but she still had 487 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: to keep riding the horses to get to her patients. 488 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: She was working basically until the day she died, which 489 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,640 Speaker 1: is all pretty inspirational, But we got to talk about 490 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: the problematic parts. Now. While Breckenridge's contributions to medicine are undeniable, 491 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: she had some deeply problematic views. First, she was a 492 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 1: fan of eugenics. From early on in her career. She 493 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: wrote articles for publications such as Southern Women's magazine, in 494 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 1: which she encouraged women to carefully select their mates as 495 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 1: only people of quote good blood should be having children. 496 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: Eugenics was by the nineteen teens gaining popularity in the 497 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: United States as a way to eradicate disease infirmity. As 498 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: if you haven't listened to our podcast about the Calikacs 499 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: and the eugenicists, like, we talk a lot about how 500 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: this wasn't just something that was a fringe element in society. 501 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 1: It was like a mainstream taught in standard high school 502 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: biology textbooks kind of thing. So it is absolutely easy 503 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: to see why someone interested in nursing might have been 504 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 1: into eugenics. But the way most eugenicists in the United 505 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: States envisioned these improvements was specifically through keeping the bloodlines 506 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: pure without integration of immigrants into families. Breckenridge believed that 507 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: women in the US were duty bound to have healthy 508 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: babies to keep the country strong, and that to do so, 509 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: those babies had to be white, ideally white blood from 510 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: Anglo Saxon roots. Yeah, she definitely had like a hierarchy 511 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: of even people that would all be sort of umbrella 512 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: under white of which ones were the best kind of 513 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: went Anglo Saxon Nordic and then kind of went down 514 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: from there, Like she really very clearly had no problems 515 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: comparing people and deciding which ones she thought were the 516 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: good ones and which ones were lesser. She also thought 517 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: that women couldn't be creative like men because their creativity 518 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: expressed itself biologically through making children. And while an official 519 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: stance on birth control wasn't included any literature of the 520 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 1: Frontier Nursing Service, Mary Breckinridge believed that contraceptives weren't as 521 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: good a remedy for rural Kentucky's problems as education would be. 522 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: She had to personally approve any tubal ligations performed by 523 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:34,879 Speaker 1: the service, and even then she would only do it 524 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: if there was a medical reason or for women who 525 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: already had at least five children. Yeah, she didn't seem 526 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 1: to really get super involved in any of the politics 527 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: surrounding other aspects of healthcare outside of like maternal and children. 528 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: And she even wrote that she thought like birth control 529 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: was in staying in that you know, that was that 530 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: was good for some people, but not for her patients, 531 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: which is a little again, she's problematic. Five years after 532 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,959 Speaker 1: Mary's death, ground was broken for a new hospital to 533 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: be built and named for her, and the Mery Breckenridge 534 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: Hospital was dedicated in nineteen seventy five. So it took 535 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 1: a while to build and it assumed the general care 536 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: duties that had been handled previously at the Heiden Hospital, 537 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: and then the Heiden facility was converted into a teaching center, 538 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: the Frontier School of Midwiffery and Family Nursing. In nineteen 539 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: eighty two, Mary Breckinridge was posthumously inducted into the American 540 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame. As of twenty fifteen, 541 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: there were thirty nine accredited graduate midwiffery programs in the 542 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: United States and more than eleven thousand certified midwives and 543 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 1: certified nurse midwives. So while she is considered the the 544 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: sort of mother of midwiffery in the United States, it 545 00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: really grew very quickly and clearly. I mean it was 546 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: address seeing a need that was there already, and other 547 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: people were super interested in really more than midwiffrey. I 548 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,320 Speaker 1: feel like she should be maybe lauded as a person 549 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: who introduced medical like formalized medical training in general. Uh 550 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: with us. Mary Breckenridge. Thanks so much for joining us 551 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 552 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook RL 553 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 554 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: could be obsolete now. Our current email address is History 555 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can find us all 556 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: over social media at missed in History, and you can 557 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the 558 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. 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