"Millie Essie Hale" (February 27-1881-June 6 1930)

Nurse,social activists, and hospital founder,was born Millie Essie Gibson in Nashville,Tennessee,one of five children of Henry Gibson,a blacksmith, and Nannie Gibson.Millie spent her childhood in Nashville,having attended Pearl Elementary School from 1888 to 1892 and graduating from Fisk University's Normal School in 1901.She moved to New York in order to study nursing at the Graduate School of Nurses there.Later, in 1927,she received her BA degree from Fisk.  On December 20 1905 Millie married John Henry Hale,who taught at Nashville's Meharry Medical College,They had two daughters, Mildered and Essie.Millie returned from New-York committed to improving health care for Nashville's African-American community.On July 1 1916 she founded the Millie E.Hale Hospital ,which became the first year-round hospital in the city to provide health care for African Americans.The hospital, which started with only twelve beds and a staff of three, including  Millie,  expanded dramatically in less than a decade.By 1923 the hospital included one hundred beds and a staff of twenty-six nurses and three physicians;also by that time time, the hospital staff had treated several thousands patients and its physicians had performed more than five thousands operations,with a mortality rate below three percent. before long,the hospital earned a reputation for excellent medical care.Concerned with providing both medical care and social services for the African-American community,Millie and her husband soon converted their own fourteen-room house to a community center,which became the site for a prenatal and baby welfare clinic and a free clinic for adults.The center also served as a place for African-American women to meet,attend free health lectures,and discuss ways to improve the community.Millie was not only concerned with health care,but also recognized the importance of the physical and social development of children in her community.At her urging,the hospital staff organized boys &girls into clubs taught them healthful recreation.In 1923 Millie purchased land and built four large neighborhood playgrounds.She arranged for the hospital to host an annual youth picnic and a celebration called Boy's Week, a reception for African-American news carriers.She also organized free band concerts and open-air movies for children.The community lauded Millie for these efforts.As he involvement in the Nashville African-American community grew,Millie led the hospital staff in the development  of a suite of social services,including educational and recreational programs, home visitations,and even a relief program through which food,coal,medical care,and sometimes even monetary assistance was provided to the most needy. She particularly stressed proper health education, setting up informational meetings open to the community, and publishing a monthly newspaper. As she worked tirelessly to establish and maintain the social service units of the hospital,she also developed the Nurse Training Department.The hospital received recognition from the American College of Surgeons for its outstanding services, which in turn attracted more people to its staff.By 1925 twenty-four women had graduated from its three-year nursing program and many more were enrolled.In order to address the widespread need for a social service department that could cope with the demand for health care in the community,the nursing program included a course in social service an an internship program. In addition to her devotion to the hospital,Millie managed and maintained a local grocery store.Furthermore,she was active in community activities and organizations,including the Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church,the YWCA,the Nashville Federation of Colored Women's Clubs,and Heliotrope Literary Circle.After being ill for several months,Millie died of nephritis  in thee hospital she founded.Following her death the management of the Millie E. Hospital passed to her husband.While the hospital remained open to the African-American community until 1938.