Interview with Kate Ireland, November 1, 1979

Partial Transcript: This is an unrehearsed interview with Ms. Kate Ireland for the Frontier Nursing Service Oral History Project by Dale Deaton...

Segment Synopsis: Kate Ireland is introduced. She talks about her family connections to the Frontier Nursing Service, mainly through her sister who was a courier, and her mother who was on the Cleveland Committee. She talks about hearing Mary Breckinridge speak during her childhood.

Keywords: Cleveland Committee; Committee chairman; Couriers; Mary Breckinridge; Mothers; Public speaking; Worms

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Cleveland (Ohio); Families.; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.

Partial Transcript: When you came here in 1951, what were some of the things that you recall best?

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about her many years as a courier at the FNS, and talks about the main duties of couriers. She talks about her impressions of the area, and her interaction with Mary Breckinridge, which was limited at first while Breckinridge wrote her book, "Wide Neighborhoods."

Keywords: "Wide Neighborhoods"; Books; Brutus (Ky.); Brutus Center; Couriers; Diaries; Directors; Districts; Expectations; Family; Horses; Impressions; Involvement; Mary Breckinridge; Visits; Wendover (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Country life; Families.; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Leslie County (Ky.); Rural conditions; Transportation--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: In what the couriers did then, especially in their association with the nurses, uh, compare the involvement that the couriers had with the nurses in the fifties...

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about the relationship between FNS couriers and nurses and why their involvement with one another decreased over the years.

Keywords: Anna May January; Changes; Couriers; Dr. Ella Woodyard; Driving; Horseback riding; Medicaid; Medicare; Teaching

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Horses--Transportation; Nurses

Partial Transcript: By the early sixties m, Mrs. Breckinridge's health is continually failing.

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about Mary Breckinridge's health issues leading up to her death. She gives her candid opinion on the FNS staff who began to elevate Mrs. Breckinridge to the status of sainthood, and talks about her own relationship with Mrs. Breckinridge. She talks about the effects of a lack of leadership within the FNS during Mrs. Breckinridge's illness.

Keywords: "Sainthood"; Agnes Lewis; Anne Cundle; Attitudes; Betty Lester; Big House; Board of Governors; Chemotherapy; Conversations; Death; Debates; Funerals; Health issues; Health problems; Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Horseback riding; Leadership; Lucille Hodges; Politics; Progress; Relationships; Respect; Teas; Treatment; Wendover (Ky.)

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical centers--Administration; Nurses

Partial Transcript: Not too long after her death there was, uh--the FNS administrators and, and Helen Browne called, uh, many of the local people, uh, to a meeting and asked them...

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about how changes like increased government regulations on healthcare facilities, as well as the influx of outsiders in Leslie County due to the War on Poverty, affected the FNS. She talks more about the lack of leadership at the FNS during Mrs. Breckinridge's illness.

Keywords: Attitudes; Changes; Fees; Government funding; Government regulations; Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Hospitals; Image; Impressions; Input; Leadership; Local people; Mary Breckinridge; Medicaid; Medicare; Outsiders; Poverty; Preparation; Staff; VISTA volunteers; War on Poverty

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Health facilities.; Hospitals--Administration; Leslie County (Ky.); Medical care--Appalachian Region; Medical centers--Administration; Medical centers--Finance; Rural conditions; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: The first meeting after her death, is this when the, the "rubber stamp" Board of Governors begins to change and begins to take a, a more increasing...

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about how the FNS Board of Governors began to change after Mary Breckinridge's death and the appointment of Helen Browne as director.

Keywords: "Rubber stamp" Board of Governors; Bylaws; Capital campaigns; Directors; Fundraising; Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Leadership; Members

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Hospitals--Administration; Medical centers--Administration; Medical centers--Finance

Partial Transcript: L, let's go to the, the nurse midwifery school and the family nurse practitioner program.

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about why the FNS added the nurse practitioner program to its school. She talks about her involvement in the litigation regarding the old FNS hospital, as well as the construction of the new hospital.

Keywords: Abilities; Delays; District nurses; Dr. Beasley; Family nurse practitioner programs; Fire marshals; Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Funding; Government regulations; Government reimbursement; Hospitals; Litigation; Medications; Medicines; Needs; New hospital; Old hospital; Primary care; Qualifications; Studies; Training; Trudy Isaacs

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Health facilities.; Hospital buildings--Design and construction; Medical centers--Finance; Medical education; Nurses; Nursing--Study and teaching; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: W, were you as aware of economic factors here in, in the fifties and, and especially in the sixties, let's say up, up to 1973?

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about the economic conditions in Leslie County, discussing effects of changes in the mining industry as well as changes in the availability of supermarkets and foodstamps.

Keywords: Agnes Lewis; Coal booms; Employment; Fees; Food Stamps; Gardens; Job opportunities; Modern conveniences; Nutrition; Postmistress; Salary; State police checkpoints; Stores; Supermarkets; Timber industry; Trash; UMW; Unionization; Unionizing

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky; Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Leslie County; Country life; Food habits--Appalachian Region, Southern; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Leslie County (Ky.); Occupations.; United Mine Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Well, being a, a, a really dedicated Republican, Leslie County is, is sort of a pocket in a Democratic state.

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about the strength of the Republican Party in Leslie County. She talks about changes in businesses in Leslie County and why certain businesses have been successful.

Keywords: 1973 energy crisis; Bookstores; Businesses; Cars; Congressman Tim Lee Carter; Income; Libraries; President Richard Nixon; Republicans; Spending; Stores; Unionization; Unionizing; Visits

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky; Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Leslie County; Leslie County (Ky.); Leslie County (Ky.)--Politics and government; Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994; Republican Party (Ky.); Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )

Partial Transcript: I have been very active in the c--Leslie County Development Association ever since before the War on Poverty began when we had that going privately...

Segment Synopsis: Ireland talks about her involvement with various development organizations in Leslie County, and talks about the types of development the community needs. She talks about a lack of community involvement by the local people. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Board of Education; Community involvement; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Government; Leadership; Leslie County Development Association; Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO); Parent Teacher Association (PTA); Planning; Reorganization

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Community development--Kentucky; Leslie County (Ky.); Regionalism--Appalachian Region