Rhonda Bowman and Betty Bowman
Dublin Core
Title
Rhonda Bowman and Betty Bowman
Alternative Title
Rhonda and Betty Bowman
Subject
Sanford (Fla.)
Description
Betty Bowman and her child, Rhonda Bowman, in March 1974. Rhonda was delivered by Marie Jones Francis at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall on December 25, 1973. Located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston.
Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown.
Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown.
Source
Original color photograph, March 1975: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Date Created
1975-03
Contributor
Humphrey, Daphne F.
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original color photograph, March 1975.
Is Part Of
Marie Jones Francis Collection, RICHES of Central Florida, Georgetown Collection, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Format
application/pdf
Extent
129 KB
Medium
1 color photograph
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Sanford, Florida
Accrual Method
Donation
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Originally owned by Marie Jones Francis.
Inherited by Daphne F. Humphrey.
Rights Holder
Copyright to the resource is held by Daphne F. Humphrey and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.
Contributing Project
Curator
Firpo, Julio R.
Digital Collection
Source Repository
Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey
External Reference
"Oral History of Daphne F. Humphrey." Interview by Julio R. Firpo. Home of Daphne F. Humphrey. April 8, 2011. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida.
Transcript
Rhonda + Betty Bowman
March 1974
Birth - Dec. 25, 1973
March 1974
Birth - Dec. 25, 1973
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
1 color photograph
Collection
Citation
“Rhonda Bowman and Betty Bowman,” RICHES, accessed May 20, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2932.