From time to time I like to look back into history and share photos I find in the Library of Congress archives. I have done that previously with breastfeeding, newborn health, and tuberculosis. Today, I am sharing photographs I found of rural midwives in the south.
Delano, Jack. Midwife in doorway of her house. Near Siloam, Greene County, Georgia. 1941 May. Reproduction Number: LC-USF34-044303-D (b&w film neg.)Delano, Jack. Midwife wrapping her kit to go on a call in Greene County, Georgia. 1941 October. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8c29209 (digital file from original neg.) LC-USF34-046569-E (b&w film nitrate neg.)
Johnston, Frances Benjamin. Mammy House, Aylett, King William County, Virginia. 1935. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-23487 (digital file from print) LC-DIG-csas-04966 (digital file from original negative)Wolcott, Marion Post. Aunt Sally, old midwife, the only doctor or nurse ever heard of in Gees Bend before project was started. Gees Bend, Alabama. 1939 May. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsa-8a40121 (digital file from original neg.) LC-USF33-030363-M1 (b&w film nitrate neg.)Delano, Jack. Siloam, Greene County, Ga. (vicinity). Midwife going on a call, carrying her kit. 1941 November. Reproduction Number: • LC-DIG-ds-01272 (digital file from original)
Jennifer James is the founder of Social Good Moms, a blog about pressing global issues. She has written over 70 articles for the Gates Foundation and has written about women's and girls' issues for ELLE and Cosmo South Africa and Huffington Post's Impact. She has been named a Fast Company Most Generous Social Media Maven, a Nesta Mother of Innovation (UK), and a ONE.org social media gamechanger. She is a recipient of two International Reporting Project fellowships to Zambia and Tanzania and a National Press Foundation Vaccine Fellowship.
James has reported about global health from Haiti, Brazil, Nepal, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, the Philippines, and Zambia. You can contact Jennifer at socialgoodmoms@gmail.com.
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