Certificate of Midwifery for Marie Jones Francis
Dublin Core
Title
Certificate of Midwifery for Marie Jones Francis
Alternative Title
Francis Midwifery Certificate
Subject
Sanford (Fla.)
Georgetown (Sanford, Fla.)
Midwives--United States
Description
A document certifying Marie Jones Francis as a Lay-Midwife for the year of 1977. The certificate was issued by the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Health Program Office and was signed by the Staff Director. The Governor and Secretary at the time of issuance were Reubin O'Donovan Askew and William J. Page, Jr., respectively.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Source
Original certificate, 1977: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Tallahassee, Florida: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Date Created
1977
Date Issued
1977
Contributor
Humphrey, Daphne F
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original certificate, 1977: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Tallahassee, Florida.
Is Part Of
Marie Jones Francis Collection, Georgetown Collection, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Format
image/jpg
Extent
142 KB
Medium
1 certificate
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Accrual Method
Donation
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and owned by Marie J. Francis.
Inherited by Daphne F. Humphrey.
Rights Holder
Copyright to the resource is held by the Florida Department of Health 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
Dickinson, Joy Wallace. “A Very Rich Trail: Florida’s Black Heritage is Celebrated in an Updated and Expanded State Publication." The Orlando Sentinel, February 24, 2008, J1. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/02/24/3287685.htm.
Moore, Stacy. "Midwife on Job Here 32 Years." The Little Sentinel, April 4, 1979, 26.
Jeria, Michelle. "Sanford'S Birth Place: Marie Jones Francis Delivered More than 40,000 Babies in Her Sixth Street Home." The Sanford Herald, Feb 16, 2003, 1C.
Flewellyn, Valada Parker, and the Sanford Historical Society. African Americans of Sanford. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.
"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
REUBIN O'D. ASKEW
Governor
WILLIAM J. PAGE, JR.
Secretary
STATE OF FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES
HEALTH PROGRAM OFFICE
This is to Certify That:
Name Marie Francis
Address 621 E. 6th Street
City Sanford, Florida 32771
Id Entitled to Practice As A Lay-Midwide For the Year Ending December 31, 1977. License No. 24
Marie Francis
Signature
[?]
Staff Director, Health Program Office
Governor
WILLIAM J. PAGE, JR.
Secretary
STATE OF FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES
HEALTH PROGRAM OFFICE
This is to Certify That:
Name Marie Francis
Address 621 E. 6th Street
City Sanford, Florida 32771
Id Entitled to Practice As A Lay-Midwide For the Year Ending December 31, 1977. License No. 24
Marie Francis
Signature
[?]
Staff Director, Health Program Office
Document Item Type Metadata
Original Format
1 certificate
Collection
Citation
“Certificate of Midwifery for Marie Jones Francis,” RICHES, accessed April 19, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2949.