xt7vdn3zts0h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vdn3zts0h/data/mets.xml The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. 1974 bulletins  English The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletins Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 50, No. 2, Autumn 1974 text Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 50, No. 2, Autumn 1974 1974 2014 true xt7vdn3zts0h section xt7vdn3zts0h jfrnntizr jmxrsing $Bl‘hi£B
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From the staff of the l
. . . -4
Frontier Nursing Service I
to all of our friends  
around the world:  
HAPPY NEW YEAR  
l
FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE QUARTERLY BULLETIN
Published at the end of each Quarter by the Frontier Nursing Service,’ Inc.
Lexington, Ky.
Subscription Price $2.00 a. Year
Edit01·’s Otiice. Wendover, Kentucky 41775  
VOLUMZE 50 AUTUMN, 1974 NUMBER 2   Y
Second class postage paid at Lexington, Ky. 40507  *‘
Semud Form 3579 to Frontier Nursing Service, Wendover, Ky. 41775  
Copyright, 1975, Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.  
 
 
 l  
· Z

 CONTENTS
ARTICLE AUTHOR PAGE
A Look At FNS Sally Hamby 14
  Beyond the Mountains 29
  ° "Feeling Good" 4
 ' Field Notes 37
F  In Memoriam 23
  Jessica Palmer A Photograph Inside Back
  Cover
E Just Talking Joan Fenton 17
 ‘_  Old Courier News 11
  Old Staff News 25
ji The Animals (illus.) Anne Cundle&Peggy Burden 20
.  The Family Nurse and District
 · Experience Peggy C. Wieser 7
  The Mary Breckinridge Festival 5
 l * The Mary Breckinridge Hospital 3
  To W.S.C. (verse) Norwich 10
 {K] Ring Out The Old . . . (verse) Tennyson 2
  Bmmr Brrs
  , Battering Ram The Countryman 9
{ Big Talk The Countryman 13
it   Blackmail The Countryman 34
fil Cataract or Cadillac ? Modern Maturity 42
  Low Road and High Road The Countryman 6
Overheard . . . The Countryman 27
 N Qualiiied Friend The Countryman 22
  Readers’ Motoring Tales—146 The Countryman 19
  Roe Deer in the Corn The Countryman 35
}·  Sayings of Our Children Contributed 16
  Westmoreland Saying . . . The Countryman 36
  White Elephant 28

 2 _ FRoN1·1ER Nunsmo smwxco __ ___
Ring out the old, ring in the new, V
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true. I!
Ring out the grief that saps the mind if
For those that here we see no more; ig
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind. L
Ring out a slowly dying cause,  g
And ancient forms of party strife;  
Ring inthe nobler modes of life,  
With sweeter manners, purer laws.  
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,  
The faithless coldness of the times;  
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,  
But ring the fuller minstrel in.  
Ring out false pride in place and blood,  
The civic slander and the spite; *
Ring in the love of truth and right, j
Ring in the common love of good. ·
Ring out old shapes of foul disease; lf
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Q?
Ring out the thousand wars of old, ->’
Ring in the thousand years of peace. .*
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
—AIfred, Lord Tennyson
In Memoriam, CVI

 QUARTERLY BULLETIN s
if MARY BRECKINRIDGE HOSPITAL
lu By the time this Bulletin reaches those of you who are in the
~ H United States, you will have received an invitation to the ‘
g dedication of the Mary Breckinridge Hospital and Frontier
i Nursing Clinical Training Center which will be held in Hyden,
  Kentucky, at 1 :30 p.m. on January 5, 1975, followed by open house
  for all those who are willing to brave the uncertainties of January
Q weather to be with us. So this long-awaited announcement will
  come as no surprise but we want to brag a bit and also to take this
j opportunity to send the news to our friends overseas.
` January 6 is still remembered, in many areas of the Ap-
  palachian South, as Old Christmas, so it is perhaps appropriate ‘
  that this important event in the history ofthe FNS and in the lives
  of Leslie Countians should come on the eve of a traditional
i holiday. Certainly the completion of and the move into the new
I hospital is the nicest possible present for Christmas—Old or
J New- that the FNS could possibly receive.
  Since this Autumn Bulletin must go to the printer in early
gin December, there is still a bit too much clutter in and around the
  new hospital for us to take good pictures. But the Mary
° Breckinridge Hospital in all its glory, and the grand opening
l ceremonies, will be featured in the Winter 1975 Bulletin—and
that’s a promise!

 4 FRONTIER. NURSING smavxcm
"FEELING GOOD" E
We are happy to invite FNS friends who are interested in 5
seeing the nurse-midwives of the Frontier Nursing Service in  -
action to watch the program "Feeling Good" on their local Public  Q
Broadcasting Service (PBS) station at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, i
January 15, 1975. One of the documentary segments of this new  
television show, which premiered on Wednesday, November 20, ig
on the 250 stations of PBS, was filmed in Kentucky in late October
and will present FNS nurse-midwives in the classroom, in clinic l
and in the home of a patient. W
"Feeling Good", produced by the Children’s Television
Workshop, which was originally created to do experimental
education programs for children ("Sesame Street" and "The
Electric Company"), is designed primarily for young parents who .
play major roles in influencing the health of their immediate
families. The show has a variety/ magazine format composed of a
number of different elements and employing a wide range of
entertainment and informational techniques—drama, song, com-
edy and satire, animation and documentaries, and includes guest i
celebrities in cameo roles. The theme is prevention, and the
objective is increased public awareness of good health practices -
and personal responsibility for one’s own well—being. The twenty-
six week series will stress "self-help ideas: how to stay well, how
not to get sick; the fact that most people have more control over
their health than they realize". While prevention is the main
theme, the series will also cover health problems that are é
relatively easy to detect and treat as well as more serious problems ih
which have a high incidence in our society. Other topics, in `>
addition to the prenatal care featured in the segment filmed at sl
FNS, will include alcohol abuse, child care, dental care, exercise, `
nutrition, mental health, and aspects of the health care delivery
system.

 QUARTERLY BULLETIN 5
. THE MARY BRECKINRIDGE FESTIVAL
$ The thirteenth annual Mary Breckinridge Festival was held
 ‘ in Hyden on the last week end in September and focused on the
  youth of Leslie County and their accomplishments.
O A few days before the Festival, a few ofthe young people were
{ honored on Hazard TV Channel 57 and Lucille Knechtly wrote of
< Q the occasion:
` "ln a day when so much publicity is given to deviate youth, Leslie
' County can point with pride to its young leaders. How many counties in
` the State could have presented such a delegation—all under twenty-
eight years of age:
Allen Muncy, Leslie County Judge
McKinley Morgan, Attorney
Billy Joe Napier, Conservation Officer
‘ Glenn Hendrix, Hayes Lewis Elementary School Principal
Joe Lewis, FNS Pharmacist
Joyce Wooton Fortney, 1973 President of the
Leslie County Education Association
Kaye Vanover Begley, FNS Nurse
’ Johnny Keen, 1974 President of Jaycees
"These busy young people are actively and effectively involved in
many civic programs. McKinley is chairman of the Leslie County
‘ Development Association; Allen is a Boy Scout Leader; Billy Joe is
active in Leslie County Development, the Deer Hunters Club and the
Humane Society; Glenn devoted much time to sports, especially to the
boys—Little Leaguers—in his community; Joe Lewis finds time to give
drug education classes in the schools, to be treasurer of the Humane
Society and vice—chairman of the Leslie County Mental Health/Mental
g Retardation Association; Joyce is a wife, a mother, and an outstanding
. teacher, involved in environmental and career education programs in
by the schools, and a 4-H leader. Johnny Keen is an Army Reserve Drill
`; Sergeant and shoulders work in any number of civic projects that come
‘ T along; Kaye is an excellent nurse and participates in hospital activities.
~ "These are only a few deserving County youth leaders. We of the
Mary Breckinridge Festival Planning Committee salute you, all ofyou!"
A group of attractive high school students—all FNS babies-
were candidates for the Festival Queen and Theresa Valentine,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Valentine, was a popular choice
as the 1974 Queen. Faye Farmer (Mrs. Edward) had done her
usual marvelous job of lining up craftsmen for the annual Craft
Show. The Wendover float won the grand championship in the
Mary Breckinridge Day parade. Those who had worked on the

 6 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE  ·
float considered this an especial honor since all of the floats were_ `
exceptionally well done this year. E
Frontier Nursing Service pins, denoting five years on the staff  
of the FNS, were presented to Louise Brock, Ann Browning,
Juanita Couch, Wanda Hacker, Mary Rose Hoskins, Gertrude _?
Isaacs, Paul Jones, Sharon Koser, Jewell Sizemore, Marsha ` I
Vanover, Zuba Watts and Virginia Whitehead.
The weather was good, the crowd was large, and the Senior  
Citizens served a delicious lunch! Plans are already under way for
the 1975 Festival at which the Senior Citizens will be honored.
LOW ROAD AND HIGH ROAD “
About forty years ago, I and a companion were delivering a Y
grand piano to a very remote farm on Exmoor. On reaching the
nearest village, we asked the way of a young and keen-looking `
policeman. ‘Over the bridge,’ said he, ‘turn left, straight on up the
hill, through the four cross way, left...’ and so on until we were ,
more than a bit bewildered. However, we thanked him, and set off  
over the bridge and up the hill. On reaching the top our van, an old A
model ‘T’ Ford conversion, was boiling furiously, so we pulled in “
along side an old stone-cracker breaking stones by the roadside to  
let the engine cool. ‘Where be gwaink?’ asked the old man, then.  
‘Dis knaw thee way?’ We told him we had had directions from a  L
policeman but were not too sure. ‘Well now,’ said the old man, .
‘Thee see they there telephone poles? Thee follow they, and when ”
thee casn’t see any more, well there you be, cos the last one is in the
yard of the place you be looking for.’—Leslie Land, Somerset. .
——The Countryman, Autumn 1973, Edited by Crispin Gill,
Burford, Oxfordshire, England. ,
Annual Subscription for American readers
$6.25 on their own banks.
Published quarterly by The Countryman,
23-27 Tudor Street, London, E.C_. 4.

  . QUARTERLY BULLETIN 7
THE FAMILY NURSE AND DISTRICT
7 EXPERIENCE
(Condensed)
By PEGGY C. WIESER, R.N., B.S.N.
  Student, Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing
I I feel that a family nurse is simply what the words imply—a
·   nurse whose interests and endeavors encompass the entire family
unit. My concept of the function of the nurse in this role is more
difficult to define. Part of the difficulty lies in the very nature of
any concept; it is rarely, if ever, something that can be stated
unequivocally. A concept is perpetually in a state of formulation
and change. At present, my concept of the family nurse’s function
and significance in relation to the family would best be expressed
. as follows: one who works concommitantly‘·with the family in
assessing their idea of health, in identifying areas of health care
I need, in establishing goals for the attainment of the family’s
E maximum potential for wellness, and in maintaining their level of
wellness by focusing on health promotion and preventive care
rather than by being crisis oriented.
I first met the family I selected to follow during my district
experience as a student when I was working on district prior to
entering the School. On my initial visit to the family, Ifound they
, were experiencing a period of great financial difficulty. The
  father, a disabled miner, had been classified as eligible for "Black
·’ , Lung" benefits but it might be some time before he would begin
  receiving compensation. In the meantime, the sole income was
  under $200 a month from unemployment compensation which
» was due to be discontinued shortly. The children were relatively
»,  healthy looking and very friendly, but one child had obvious
 · strabismus and all had occasional respiratory infections. The
’ mother complained of a weight problem and also of having bad
headaches and of feeling dizzy on occasion. She had been seen by
a physician at Hyden who had advised her that she had
hypertension. She had been placed on diuretics, counselled
regarding a low-sodium diet and weight loss, and was advised of
. the importance of regular follow-up clinic visits for evaluation of
her progress. However, she had taken the medication for only one
. month and had not returned for follow-up "because we just didn’t

 l 
 
I 
l
s FRONTIER NURSING smwxcm E 
i 
I felt that the family had several areas of health care which  
needed to be explored more fully with the family on future visits,   i
and it would be beneficial if I could follow them during my district `
experience as a student. I had advised the family to apply for s 
Medical Assistance. My primary function would be to guide the Y
family toward reaching their potential for wellness by making the
necessary medical appointments for them, supporting them with ii
follow-up care and teaching after the appointments, and then ··°
helping them to maintain their level of wellness by concentrating
on health promotion and preventive care. With this in mind, the ·
following goals were established: I I
1. To make an appointment at the Eye Clinic for the child  
with strabismus  
2. To make an appointment for the mother in Diagnostic  
Clinic for evaluation of her hypertension  
3. To counsel the mother regarding the importance of proper l F
management and control of hypertension and the means of l
achieving this ,
4. To make appointments for all the children in Pediatric  
Clinic for well child care and to explain the importance of well  
child care  
5. To discuss factors influencing the maintenance of good  
health, including adequate sanitation and personal hygiene  
measures, regular physical check-ups and appropriate follow-up ij
for all family members, and following medical advice consis-  
tently.  
When I started making weekly home visits to the family, I iii
learned that the situation was not simple as I had thought. The ¥
family did seek medical care for a few problems, but in each case  
the seeking was more or less crisis prompted. The only move _
toward health promotion was to take the children for their well  y
child appointments. A strong, healthy relationship existed Q 
between the parents and the children and the parents were really , ~
concerned with providing for the children’s well-being. At the end  2,
of four months in Family Nursing I, I felt that the family was still  ·`
functioning on the adolescent level as defined in Tapia’s "Model Q 
for Family Nursing" but they have definitely started to make  
some degree of progress. With continued guidance and encourage- i ;
ment, the family has much potential for becoming more future-  
 `Q
i

 I,
 
 
l  QUARTERLY BULLETIN 9
 `
K 
l i oriented and functioning at the adult level as described by Tapia. I
E . have discussed with the district nurse the progress made and the
‘  areas in which the family needs additional support.
E Even though I had worked as a district nurse for a few months
  prior to entering the School, the district experience with this
family proved to be a good learning experience. It reminded me
i, that, when working with a family, the goals that are established
,.¤ must be the goals of the family rather than those of the nurse.
_ Only when the family feels the need of setting specific goals and
working toward their fulfillment will progress be made. Also, the
experience helped me to focus my attention on the entire family
° rather than seeing each person as a single unit without con-
f, sidering the effects that all family members have on the in-
  dividual as he identifies his problems and decides what he will or
  will not do about them.
.s
  BATTERING RAM
  One Whitsuntide our Scout camp on a hill farm coincided with
  haymaking, and the farmer welcomed our help. At the end of the
  first day he pointed out two broken rake-handles near the stable,
¤   and the next evening we found a third in the same place. Knowing
r IQ none of us was to blame, for we had been in sight of one another all
[  the time, we organized a rota of inspection every half-hour on the
i,_ following day. When my turn came I saw a ball of fury charge
_ 2 across the stable yard head on at a rake leaning against the wall.
  Before I could get near, it wheeled around and repeated the
I assault. I got hold of the rake and had to use it to drive off the
 .+ attacker—just the pet ram-lamb, bored by his own company.-
L  George Hudson.
  —T/ze Cowztrynian. Summer 1970, Edited by Crispin Gill,
 _, Burford, Oxfordshire, England.
 r
*1

   *
The year 1974 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the ¤ 
birth of Winston Churchill, a towering giant of the Twentieth  
Century. Let us remember what he meant to the world during the  
dark days of World War II:  
K
i
To W. S. C. g
When ears were deaf and tongues were mute,  
You told of doom to come. ll
When others fingered on the flute,
You thundered on the drum. .
When armies marched and cities burned ii
And all you said came true, `
Those who had mocked your warnings turned J
Almost too late to you. .
And then doubt gave way to firm belief T
And through five cruel years ,
You gave us glory in our grief, L
And laughter through our tears. »
When final honors are bestowed S
And last accounts are done,  
Then shall we know how much was owed C l
By all the world to one. 1
—Norwich  
Reprinted from Frontier Nursing Service  _
Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 3, Winter 1965  Z.

 € QUARTERLY BULLETIN 11
I OLD COURIER NEWS
, Edited By
Q JUANETTA M. MORGAN
1`( From Patricia Bodell, Providence, Rhode Island
° —September 5, 1974
  I have had a great summer working on a boat and on October
i 31 I am heading for a very exciting voyage around the world on a
é 65-foot schooner.
A From Kate Fulton in Providence, Rhode Island
—-November 4, 1974
1 I have transferred into the Physical Therapy Department at
» UVM and am swamped with work but thoroughly enjoying it. I
Y hope all is well with everybody. I was so sad to learn that
' Wendover had to give up the horses. I am always devising plans
for coming back to Wendover! I have two affiliations in my
i_ program in 1976 and in 1977. Does anyone need an enthusiastic
1 physical therapist student! I think about my experience there very
5 often and long to be there again and see you all.
From Cornelia W. Hamilton, M.D., Shaker Heights, Ohio
zi -——November 11, 1974
  The recent arrival in my mailbox of the summer issue of the
J Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, which mentions that
_ » some of the midwives come up to Cleveland Metropolitan General
7 Hospital, prompted me to drop you a line. That hospital is one
 ' . connected with Case-Western Reserve and happens to be where I
 , am now doing a rotation in neurosurgery.
4 I received my M.D. in June and am now doing a surgical
i internship as the first step to a general surgery residency, which I
“ also plan to take in Cleveland.
 3 My last rotation in medical school I spent at Nazareth
 Li Hospital, Mokameh, India, where Dr. Wiss spent several years.
  That was my second visit there. A remarkable experience.

 12 FRONTIER NURSING snnvicxaz
From Janet Brown Dillingham, San Francisco, California I
—November 14, 1974 ‘
It has been three years since I was with you, but it seems like I
yesterday. My thoughts are with you at this time as two of my  J
favorite people are there as couriers—Cyndie Branch and Ann . 
Procter. I
Our antique shop takes up most of our time, but we love it. We A
were in England in August, buying for the store, and on our way ,1
home we visited my parents in New York. My parents are coming ` ‘
here for Thanksgiving, and my brother moved here in August, so
we’ll have a family dinner.  
From Lindsay Poole, Princeton, New Jersey V
—November 16, 1974
I’m so glad I was able to spend two short months with the
FNS. As time passes I see more and more thatl gained from being
a courier.
I spent the summer studying chemistry at Harvard and am
now back at Princeton, majoring in English. I’m playing on the ‘ i
women’s ice hockey team and spend some time doing counseling `
with Planned Parenthood. V
From Louise Pomeroy Gara, Unadilla, New York »
—November 19, 1974 {
We are fine and it’s been a busy year for us! We have a little I
boy, Jeffrey, eight months old, and we’ve moved back north.  
From Mimi Salisbury, Northeast Harbor, Maine  L
—-November 19, 1974 I
My summer was very busy. As time went on, I spent more and Q
more time working at a hospital. I’m now at the University of
Maine and faced with the decision of whether or not to return for ,
another semester. i

 QUARTERLY BULLETIN 13
( From Theresa Nantz Walton in Paducah, Kentucky
" —November 30, 1974
A The children are now thirteen (going on seventeen!) and
 J eleven. They keep me hopping both physically and emotionally. I
,   received my master’s degree in May of 1973. I’m glad I’ve got it but
1 I don’t believe I could ever be a full-time student again. It is a
I terrible strain on family life. I’m not teaching—I decided on an
  early "retirement" to be with the family and I’ve not regretted it.
f Our sympathy goes out to Felicity Chanler Young of
Lenox, Massachusetts, whose father, retired Navy Rear Admiral
I Hubert W. Chanler, died in Rochester, New York, in early October.
A BABY
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Watts Humphrey, Jr. (Sally) of
St. Louis, Missouri, a son, Gilbert Watts Humphrey, III, on
; November 15, 1974.
ii
E
i BIG TALK
 il An Australian, visiting a Yorkshire farmer, asked how far his
Q land extended. The farmer pointed to a small spinney at the top of
. a hill and said: ‘As far at yon trees at top of hill’. The Australian
1 shrugged and said; "On my farm get my car out and it takes me
i two days to go round my land’. The Yorkshire farmer was not
impressed, ‘l had a car like that once,’ he replied, ‘but I got rid of
5 it.’—Fl0rence Hopper, Yorkshire.
 Q —The Countryman, Summer 1970, Edited by Crispin Gill,
. Burford, Oxfordshire, England.

 14 F1>.oN·1·1E1z NURSING SERVICE
A LOOK AT FNS
By SALLY HAMBY  K
1974 Courier  ‘
Being an FNS courier involves long hours of hard, volunteer  
work in a relatively remote area of the United States. What is it p
that has attracted hundreds of young women to spend two months  
or so with FNS for almost fifty years, and what do they find once g.
in Kentucky? Although we probably have general motives in
common, we also have distinctly personal reasons for coming to
Kentucky. I had wanted to be a courier ever since I was a little girl. W
My first indirect contact with FNS was through my elementary
school. We always gave part of our bazaar profits and class dues to
FNS. A number of my friends’ mothers had been couriers. Added
to this early contact was my strong interest in English-American
culture and its Kentucky variation fostered by the lovely hymns p
and carols, humorous songs, dances, and Jack Tales which I
learned from my southern grandmother, at school and, later, from
a friend from the mountains of Kentucky. Working for FNS
seemed to be an excellent way of learning about life in the
mountains and giving something in return. After seeing The Road I
my last year of high school, I vowed to be a courier as soon as
possible. That "soon as possible" turned out to be over five years A
later when I had graduated from college and decided eventually to j
enter a health care profession, yet another reason for wanting to `
work with FNS. M
I came to Kentucky this October with high expectations, and, = ,
after two months, I can only say that I had an even better and ,
more rewarding time than I’d expected and left even more T
enthusiastic about this wonderful organization than ever. I’ll try  
to explain why.  i
My first and last weeks were spent at Wendover and the rest of  
the time I was at the outpost nursing center at Flat Creek.  
Although while at both these places I did the usual courier chores ,
such as shopping, delivering medicine and supplies, driving x
patients to Lexington and Cincinnati, taking jeeps to be repaired, .
living at each place was a unique experience. I-
At Wendover I came into contact mainly with FNS people, its  p
organization. Couriers are lucky enough to see some of what it  A

 QUARTERLY BULLETIN 15
takes to run the organization, to be a part of the interesting
, mealtime conversations in the Dog Trot, and to meet the various
 i guests. Regardless of the length of time they had been associated
 I with FNS, everyone seemed to share the enthusiasm and dedica-
  tion to working hard which was apparent at Wendover. This
attitude was contagious. Even those courier duties which might
g seem to be tedious and trivial took on a new significance in this
  atmosphere of unselfish service. There was also a gracious and
`f civilized atmosphere about Wendover which I feel is unusual for a
group of people involved with the details of such down-to-earth,
. practical work as well as the more subtle issues. Afternoon tea is
one example of this attitude. We couriers often grumbled about
having to be back at Wendover in time to serve tea, yet at the same
time it was a pleasure to have this oasis in the afternoon, to have
many of us coming from our different jobs for a half hour or so of
tea and conversation and non—practical concerns, to sit in the
lovely living room and look out at the river and the mountains.
Finally, associated with Wendover are recent memories of es-
capades with my fellow couriers: working and going places
together, taking walks, wading in the freezing river attempting to
, push upstream a boat stranded on the rocks, making home visits
to local people and learning to quilt and bake gingerbread on a
wood stove, climbing the fire tower on Lucinda’s Knob—every day
held some kind of adventure.
; Flat Creek was a different experience altogether. Staying
with a district nurse was an opportunity to see first hand the
  humane, competent, and personal care that is the outcome of the
` I organization at Wendover and Hyden. Getting to know some of
___,‘ the nurses and seeing them at work let me appreciate even more
ll the kind of care that is possible when nurses and doctors know
patients well, know whole families, their histories, etc. The nurse I
2 stayed with was fairly new to her district and was in the process of
Q going up each creek and visiting each family regardless of
 V whether or not anyone was sick. As Imet families on these visits, I
~ soon saw how friendly everyone was to us. We were always invited
 r in and had cordial conversations, often very interesting. In these
,  visits, in seeing the people who came to the clinic, those who
worked there, going to a nearby church, I got to know many ofthe
. people in the district. In fact, except for the nurse, most of my time
_ at Flat Creek was spent with the people on the district, many of

 16 FRONTIER Nunsxm; smnvron ~
whom became very good friends. I have happy memories of a  A
sunny November afternoon when we played tag with our .
neighbor’s children, chanting, "One, two, three, get off the old
man’s apple tree", followed by a game of basketball and ending ‘
with two boys about twelve years old challenging the nurse and ir}
me to a tag team wrestling match (which we lost); and of having to
climb out of a warm bath to accompany the nurse one rainy night J
to visit a frail old man propped up`in bed surrounded by relatives; A
of singing songs with an old man and eating withered apples with {
a wrinkled old woman. Never in my life have I gone to a strange 1
place and felt so much at home so soon. The day I left Kentucky I
went to visit a friend near Flat Creek whom I’d particularly liked.
As I was leaving we were holding hands and she said, "God bless
you, honey. We’ll miss you. You seemed like one of us from the very
beginning." How could one help but feel at home among people
with that kind of hospitality?
Now when I hear former couriers telling how their time at
FNS was one of the most important experiences of their lives, I
can understand and agree. It is rare to come into contact with an
organization that seems to be as close to its ideal, without being
static, as FNS. I hope to come back and visit soon and, hopefully,
some day to work. But whether or not I actually do, I shall always
have with me the wonderful memories of everyone I knew and all I
that they did in Kentucky. It was a joy to be briefly a part of the I
work at FNS. i
ll
SAYINGS OF OUR CHILDREN Q
A four-year-old to the Wendover nurse when the electricity  
went off:  3
"I wish the juice man wouldn’t do that!" if
-—Contributed  
1
I

 , QUARTERLY BULLETIN 17
 ‘ JUST TALKING
~ By JOAN FENTON, RN, MS, CNM
‘ "Just talking" is a way of describing my efforts at under-
i taking an oral history of the Frontier Nursing Service. Oral
ri history is not new. Traditions and history have been handed down
i by word of mouth from generation to generation. The tape
A recorder has added a new dimension. Using the tape recorder for
g this purpose originated at Columbia University in 1948, and, in
; 1967, the Oral History Association was formed. Presidential,
university and college libraries are all sources of oral history. This
resource is just now being tapped by historians as documentary
evidence.
My particular project developed out of an idea to collect the
letters of Mary Breckinridge. This idea was quickly abandoned
after learning she had destroyed her diaries, letters and family
memoirs after writing Wide Neighborhoods. Not to be deterred, I
approached the Director, Helen E. Browne, about interviewing
early staff regarding their memories and impressions of Mrs.
Breckinridge. Upon receiving approval I proceeded to the library
to read anything and everything on oral history. I looked in the
catalogues and indexes, the librarian looked in the catalogues and
° indexes, and finally I was sent to the department of history and
. social sciences. There the librarian went to a filing cabinet and
` brought back a folder and handed it to me. It contained the
, . proceedings ofthe Colloquims Ori Oral History for three years and
Q a few articles. I pored over these proceedings but finally realized
l. that if I were serious, I had better quit reading. and start doing
something. My first step was to purchase a tape recorder and then
find someone to interview. There never was any doubt in my mind
· that it should be Agnes Lewis who graciously said yes. This was
my pilot project and if it succeeded I would be able to proceed with
Q further interviews.
 { So, armed with my tape recorder which, everyone said, would
_l pick up everything (and it didl), I flew to Kentucky for my iirst
 Q interview. It took place in Agnes’ room in the Garden House and it
»j started out with "just talking". For me the interview was a
by success. We talked for approximately one hour and the tape
V recorder did record everything—rain, birds, ringing telephone,
I

 is Fnoiwxnn Nuasmo smzvicm
and people going up and down the steps!
The interview was only the beginning. The tape had to be ,
transcribed and because of my ineptness in using the recorder I  i
had to do the transcribing myself which took approximately
twenty-five hours. Last, but not least, comes the editing, which is l
the crucial factor. Everything I read emphasized this again and i
again. It is a shock to people when they read their extemporaneous _
speaking. In some instances they will refuse permission to use the  
tape. I