Osborne, Mary D. (1875–1946)

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Osborne, Mary D. (1875–1946)

American nurse. Born April 27, 1875 in Ohio; died July 7, 1946 in Ohio; graduate of Akron City Hospital School of Nursing, 1902; conducted postgraduate work at Woman's Hospital in NY.

Elected supervisor of nurses for the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor in NY (1912); appointed supervisor (1921), then associate director (1933) at Mississippi State Board of Health's Division of Maternal and Child Health; during Depression, ensured that every Mississippi county (82 total) had at least 1 public health nurse; increased educational standards and opportunities for nurses and required all nurses to become members of the Mississippi State Nurses Association; dedicated to the education and empowerment of "granny" midwives who delivered roughly 85% of the African-American babies born in MS state; created the Manual for Midwives and provided educational opportunities for state midwives.

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