Interview with Elizabeth Gawthrop, Edythe Balsley, Mary Hodge, April 17, 1979

Interview Summary

Elizabeth Gawthrop, Edythe Balsley, and Mary Hodge discuss their membership on the Philadelphia Committee of the Frontier Nursing Service. The interviewees talk about Mary Breckinridge's visits to the committee, as well as the group's fundraising efforts for the FNS. Mary Hodge is a member of the Breckinridge family, and gives insight into her family's genealogical background as well as the split that occurred in the family during the Civil War. She talks about the family's views of Mary Breckinridge. The interviewees discuss Mary Breckinridge's personality and her belief in spiritualism. They discuss their own belief in (and encounters with) ghosts. The interviewees discuss several factors that made the FNS appealing for young women which led to them becoming nurses or couriers, and talk about parents sending their daughters to the FNS to learn about reproduction. The interviewees discuss the impressions of Leslie County which they formed through the information given during Mrs. Breckinridge's talks to the FNS committees. They talk about articles written about Leslie County, and about how the FNS was affected by a negative article written during a mining disaster.

Interview Keyword

Family histories. Ghosts. Leslie County (Ky.) Philadelphia Committee Religion Volunteers

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region--Social conditions Breckinridge family Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965 Country life Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Genealogy Horses--Transportation Rural conditions United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.