Millie E. Hale
{{Short description|American nurse and administrator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Millie Essie Gibson Hale
| image = MillieEHale1923.png
| alt = A Black woman with jaw-length dark hair and glasses, wearing a dark scoop-neck dress and a strand of pearls
| caption = Millie E. Hale, from a 1923 publication
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|02|27}}
| birth_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1930|06|06|1881|02|27}}
| death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
| resting_place = Greenwood Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee)
| monuments = Millie E. Hale Hospital
| education = Fisk University; Graduate School for Nurses, New York City
| occupation = Hospital administrator, community leader
| spouse = John Henry Hale
}}
Millie Essie Gibson Hale (27 February 1881 – 6 June 1930){{Cite web |title=Hale, Millie E. |url=https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-36987 |access-date=2021-05-20 |website=Oxford African American Studies Center |date=2013 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.36987|isbn=978-0-19-530173-1 |last1=Willis |first1=Laticia Ann Marie }} was an American nurse, hospital founder, social activist, and civic worker.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Jessie Carney |url=http://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess_0 |title=Notable Black American women |date=1992 |publisher=Detroit : Gale Research |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8103-4749-6}}
In 1916 she founded Millie E. Hale Hospital with her husband, John Henry Hale, M.D., in Nashville, Tennessee, the first year-round hospital for African Americans in the city.
Early life and education
Millie Essie Gibson was born on 27 February 1881 in Nashville, Tennessee, one of five children{{Cite book |last1=Hine |first1=Darlene Clark |url=http://archive.org/details/blackwomeninamer00edit |title=Facts on File encyclopedia of Black women in America |last2=Thompson |first2=Kathleen |date=1996 |publisher=New York : Facts on File |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8160-3424-6}} born to Henry and Nannie Gibson. Her father was a blacksmith. In 1901, she graduated from Fisk University's Normal School, subsequently studying at New York City's Graduate School for Nurses. In 1927, she earned her bachelor's degree from Fisk.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Jessie Carney |url=http://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess_0 |title=Notable Black American women |date=1992 |location=Detroit|publisher=Gale Research |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8103-4749-6}}
In December 1905,{{Cite web |date=19 December 1905 |title=United States Marriages |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=US%2FFS%2FM%2F022385421%2F2 |website=FindMyPast}} Millie E. Gibson married John Henry Hale in Davidson County, Tennessee. John Henry Hale was a prominent surgeon and educator,{{Cite book |last=Friedman |first=Emily |url=http://archive.org/details/unfinishedrevolu00frie |title=An unfinished revolution : women and health care in America |date=1994 |publisher=New York : United Hospital Fund of New York |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-881277-17-0}} and the couple went on to have two daughters together: Mildred and Essie.
Career
File:Millie E Hale hospital 1917.png
In 1916 she and her husband founded a hospital which was the first in Nashville to treat African-American patients year round."A Hospital for Negroes with a Social Service Program" Opportunity (December 1923): 370. via Internet Archive. At the time, African-Americans were denied care at other hospitals due to financial and racial discrimination.{{Cite news|last=Zepp|first=George|date=2003-05-21|title=Hale Hospital Nurtured Thousands of City's Blacks|pages=22|work=The Tennessean|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53774085/the-tennessean/|access-date=2021-03-16}} Hale served as the hospital's head nurse and administrator.{{Cite web|last=Biddle-Douglass|first=Teresa|date=October 8, 2017|title=Millie E. Hale|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/millie-e-hale/|access-date=March 16, 2021|website=Tennessee Encyclopedia}} In addition to these responsibilities, she created a monthly newspaper educating people on health issues, set up programs for prenatal care and nurse training,{{Cite news|date=1922-01-06|title=Nashville Race Hospital Looks After its Own|pages=1|work=Kansas City Advocate|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94432527/nashville-race-hospital-looks-after-its/|access-date=2022-02-07|via=Newspapers.com}} bought land for playgrounds, and eventually transformed the Hale home into a community center.{{Cite web|date=2018-10-18|title=Nashville Couple Who Turned Their Home Into A Hospital For Blacks Honored Posthumously|url=https://home.mmc.edu/nashville-couple-who-turned-their-home-into-a-hospital-for-blacks-honored-posthumously/|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Meharry Medical College|language=en-US}} The hospital was open for over two decades and closed eight years after her death in 1930.{{Cite news|date=1930-06-07|title=Millie E. Hale Called by Death|pages=1|work=Nashville Banner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77488451/nashville-banner/|access-date=2022-02-07|via=Newspapers.com}} 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.
Death and legacy
Millie E. Hale died in 1930, aged 49 years, in Nashville.{{Cite news|date=1930-06-08|title=Death Notices: Hale|pages=11|work=Nashville Banner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94432069/death-notices-hale/|access-date=2022-02-07|via=Newspapers.com}} The Hales were inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame at Belmont University on October 16, 2018.{{Cite web|author=Sandra Long Weaver|date=2018-10-25|title=African American Health Care Providers Inducted|url=https://tntribune.com/african-american-health-care-providers-inducted/|access-date=2021-03-16|website=The Tennessee Tribune|language=en-US}}
References
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Category:Hospital administrators
Category:Fisk University alumni
Category:Lincoln School for Nurses alumni
Category:African-American nurses