Millie E. Hale

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Millie Essie Gibson Hale
A Black woman with jaw-length dark hair and glasses, wearing a dark scoop-neck dress and a strand of pearls
Millie E. Hale, from a 1923 publication
Born1881
Nashville, Tennessee
DiedJune 6, 1930
Nashville, Tennessee
OccupationHospital administrator, community leader
Spouse(s)John Henry Hale

Millie Essie Gibson Hale (1881–June 6, 1930) was an American nurse and hospital administrator. In 1916 she founded Millie E. Hale Hospital with her husband, John Henry Hale, M.D., in Nashville, Tennessee.

Early life and education[]

Millie E. Gibson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from Fisk University's Normal School. She received her nursing degree from the Graduate School for Nurses in New York City.[1]

Career[]

In 1916 she and her husband founded a hospital which was the first in Nashville to treat African-American patients year round.[2] At the time, African-Americans were denied care at other hospitals due to financial and racial discrimination.[3] Hale served as the hospital's head nurse and administrator.[4] In addition to these responsibilities, she created a monthly newspaper educating people on health issues, set up programs for prenatal care and nurse training,[5] bought land for playgrounds, and eventually transformed the Hale home into a community center.[3][6] The hospital was open for over two decades and closed eight years after her death in 1930.[3][7] It started with only a 12-bed hospital and it grew to 75 beds and thousands of patients were treated there from all over the South.[1]

Personal life and legacy[]

Hale and her husband John Henry Hale had two daughters, Mildred and Essie. Millie E. Hale died in 1930, aged 49 years, in Nashville.[8] The Hales were inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame at Belmont University on October 16, 2018.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Sandra Long Weaver (2018-10-25). "African American Health Care Providers Inducted". The Tennessee Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  2. ^ "A Hospital for Negroes with a Social Service Program" Opportunity (December 1923): 370. via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b c Zepp, George (2003-05-21). "Hale Hospital Nurtured Thousands of City's Blacks". The Tennessean. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-03-16.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Biddle-Douglass, Teresa (October 8, 2017). "Millie E. Hale". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Nashville Race Hospital Looks After its Own". Kansas City Advocate. 1922-01-06. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Nashville Couple Who Turned Their Home Into A Hospital For Blacks Honored Posthumously". Meharry Medical College. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  7. ^ "Millie E. Hale Called by Death". Nashville Banner. 1930-06-07. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Death Notices: Hale". Nashville Banner. 1930-06-08. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
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