Interview with Grace Reeder, January 25, 1979

Interview Summary

Grace Reeder, a nurse, first learned of the FNS when Mary Breckinridge spoke at a meeting in Cincinnati. After volunteering for a month as a staff nurse at the hospital in Hyden, Reeder came back in 1941 as a member of the regular staff and became chief nurse in the outpatient department. She later graduated from the FNS Graduate School of Midwifery and remained for three years as a district nurse. Reeder tells of her work with the local people, of avoiding moonshine stills on her rounds, and of helping children to go to Berea [College's Foundation School]. She discusses local ideas of propriety and attitudes toward the FNS nurses over the duration of her experience.

Interview Keyword

Cincinnati (Oh.) Distilling, illicit Education, Higher Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery Health facilities. Hyden (Ky.) Maternal health services. Medical centers--Administration Religion Wendover (Ky.)

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region--Social life and customs Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965 Childbirth Country life Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Medical care--Appalachian Region Midwifery--Appalachian Region Midwives--Appalachian Region Nurses Regionalism--Appalachian Region Rural conditions Rural health services

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Interview Usage

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