She has good reason to be alarmed because when the inspector reaches the steps of the veranda he sits down, loosens his collar, and begins to gasp and turn purple. After being revived, he looks up at nurse MacKinnon, and without any other greeting asks, "Is God in?" The poor man thought that he had indeed climbed to the gates of heaven.
The fire inspector did not quite meet God on that day, but he did make the acquaintance of one of God's best - a saintly woman who devoted her life to giving and caring for the people living in the remote and difficult mountainous regions of Eastern Kentucky. He met Mary Breckinridge.
Mary Breckinridge had been born into a prominent Southern family and had all the advantages of her family's position. Most of her early years were spent in places such as Russia, France, Switzerld and the British Isles. Her education was provided by governesses and tutors and she was brought up in the genteel, lady-like traditions of her day. Although she enjoyed her life as it was, she yearned to do something useful.
She found her calling when she became a nurse and was also certified in midwifery.
Bringing her skills to the area of the Kentucky mountains, a place she knew and loved, she established the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS). She recruited dedicated women to come to her home at Wendover and train to become nurse/midwives. These courageous women traveled by horseback, carrying medical supplies in their saddlebags, to care for families in areas that were inaccessible to any other mode of transportation.
Mary Breckinridge chose to begin her endeavor in rugged Leslie County because of the high mortality rate and the inaccessibility of the region. It is a tribute to her efforts to note that in the first 10-15 years of FNS the mortality rate in the areas serviced by Breckinridge and her nurses dropped by two thirds.
Familiar and welcome sights in the mountains, the nurses made regular rounds and were also available at any time of the day or night for anyone in need. They tended to the sick, treated wounds, gave lessons on nutrition, and delivered babies. It was said that when mountain children asked where babies came from their mothers would tell them that the nurses brought chem in their saddlebags.
Mary Breckinridge's love for the people she served was seen in every action she took on their behalf. She arranged for doctors to come to her clinic on a regular basis to treat patients in such fields as gynecology, optical and dental. These mountain people had never been seen for any of these problems. Prior to the clinics of Mary Breckinridge, tonsillectomies were not known; now children received the care they needed. The procedure was primitive, but mountain children are typically stoic. They were brought into the office where they were given an injection. They then had instruments with wires attached thrust down their throats followed by a scalpel. Breckinridge, describing this procedure as it was performed for a group of six children, said the children did not make a sound, but several blinked furiously to hold back the tears. One child, with a trickle of blood oozing out of her mouth said, "Thank you, doctor," before walking out of the room.
Worms were the scourge of the frontier child. There are known cases of a single child expelling 30 worms. Through her work for more sanitary conditions Breckinridge helped to eradicate worms in the children.
The perception of the mountain people at that time was that they were slow, slovenly and stupid. Breckinridge was aware that this was untrue, and the more she got to know them the more she realized that they were intelligent, kind people who were mannerly and polite, never wanting or expecting charity, they paid for the care they received in any way they were able, sometimes with a single egg. There were many times when a nurse could not return to Wendover before dark and needed to stay overnight with families along the way. The nurses were never turned away but rather they were provided with a safe place to sleep and a share of the small amount of food available.
Mary Breckinridge's devotion to the people of the Kentucky mountains was without limits. On holidays her home in Wendover, known as The Big House, was open to all for celebrations. Particularly festive were Thanksgiving and Christmas. She used every resource available to her to bring down mortality rates and to make life more comfortable for those she served. She remained administrator of FNS until her death in 1965 at the age of 84.
The work of this virtuous lady continues to grow through Mary Breckinridge Health Care Clinics, and the Mary Breckinridge Hospital that opened in 1975 and admits approximately 2,300 patients yearly. Her Frontier School of Midwifery is the largest school of its kind in the nation and draws students from every state. In 1999 the Nurse Practitioners Program was begun to further enhance services currently provided.
The dream and mission of a woman who left her privileged life to do something "useful" continues today in her beloved Kentucky.
Her home in Wendover, The Big House, which served as the center of operations for FNS activities and housed her first clinic is now operated as a bed and breakfast offering hospitality to visitors to the Kentucky mountains. (wendoverky.com)
For more information about FNS visit frontier.edu/about-frontier/history-of-fnu/
Note: These archival articles are presented exactly as they appeared at the time of the issue in which they appeared. As such, all quotes, as well as references to temporal facts, artifacts and other items are contemporaneous to the date of original publication.