One of the honorees for 1988 was Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis 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.

Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.]]>
The Sanford Herald: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.]]> The Sanford Herald]]> The Sanford Herald.]]> The Sanford Herald.]]> Marie Jones Francis Collection, Georgetown Collection, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> The Sanford Herald.]]> The Sanford Herald and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.]]>

At the time that the photograph was taken in 2011, the house was being occupied by Marva Y. Hawkins. Hawkins lived in Goldsboro her entire life and attended Goldsboro Red School and Crooms High School, where she graduated in 1954. She has worked in various positions, such as for Family Services, as an insurance agent, and as a columnist for The Sanford Herald.]]>
Goldsboro Collection, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> RICHES of Central Florida.]]> RICHES of Central Florida]]>
The Sanford Herald.]]> 00:00:57 Hawkins family
00:02:15 Thirteenth Street
00:03:24 Celery industry
00:04:10 Hawkins' Meat Market
00:04:37 Hawkins family
00:06:22 Goldsboro community activities and schools
00:08:14 Migrant labor
00:09:40 African-American policemen in Goldsboro
00:10:25 Thirteenth Street
00:17:27 Closing down of businesses
00:18:14 Churches and businesses in Goldsboro
00:19:12 Growing up in Goldsboro
00:21:37 How children and families have changed over time
00:22:13 Social organizations
00:23:32 Crooms High School
00:23:46 RECORDING CUTS OFF
00:23:48 Crooms High School
00:28:42 Scholarships
00:30:23 Education and career
00:32:19 Relations with communities outside of Goldsboro
00:36:27 How Sanford has changed over time
00:39:08 How the community work ethic has changed over time
00:39:37 Interaction between Goldsboro and the white community
00:42:01 RECORDING CUTS OFF
00:42:02 Interaction between Goldsboro and the white community
00:43:26 How Sanford changed during integration and the 1960s
00:47:37 Typical day for Hawkins' Meat Market and present use of building
52:00 Hawkins' brothers and their families
54:15 How Sanford has changed over time
01:01:50 Closing remarks]]>
RICHES of Central Florida.]]> RICHES of Central Florida]]> Goldsboro Collection, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> QuickTime.]]> RICHES of Central Florida.]]> RICHES of Central Florida]]>