Interview with Treon Christine, January 19, 1980

Interview Summary

Treon Christine served as a courier at Wendover for six weeks in the mid-1950s. She indicates that she was actively discouraged from dating men in the Hyden or Harlan area because it was felt that the couriers would be unwelcome competition for the local women. Christine talks about her duties as a courier and also discusses the social and psychological aspects of being on one's own as an FNS nurse. She describes going on rounds and indicates the condition of the cabins in the community. She comments upon the local people who worked at Wendover and also upon Mary Breckinridge as an administrator. Another topic discussed is the change in funding from essentially private donations to government financing. Following Christine's experience at the FNS, she worked at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati and thus frequently saw children from the FNS area, as well as Betty Lester. Christine distinguishes between rural poverty and Cincinnati's depressed areas.

Interview Keyword

Betty Lester.

Interview LC Subject

Children--Health and hygiene--Kentucky Medical care Nursing

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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.