Edith F. Millican oral history collection

Collection

Identifier: HHC174

Staff Only

Scope and Content

This interview with lifelong missionary doctor Dr. Edith F. Millican (1914-1985), focuses on her quarter-century practice in northern New Mexico among the people of the Sangre de Cristos mountains. Dr. Millican practiced at the Presbyterian Mission Hospital at Embudo, New Mexico in the 1940's and 50's, then established a branch medical mission in the Mora Valley in the 1950's and early 60's. Before health problems forced her retirement, she was active in public health work and private practice in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The following subjects are prominent in this interview: Dr. Millican's personal and professional background; Dr. Sarah Bowen; the health and sanitation problems of the mountain plazas of northern New Mexico; midwifery and traditional medicine in the Hispanic-American community of northern New Mexico; and public health services, especially maternal and infant health care.

Dates

August 1983
Majority of material found in Placeholder Unit Date Text

Creator

Spidle, Jake W., 1941- (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Biography / History

Edith F. Millican was born in Kihsian, Honan, China in 1914 to Presbyterian missionary parents. She graduated from the Shanghai American School, China, in 1930. In 1935, Dr. Millican received a B. S. from the College of Wooster in Ohio and in 1939 received her M.D. from the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia.

After an internship in Philadelphia and postgraduate training in Obstetrics in New Jersey, Dr. Millican was sent temporarily to Embudo, New Mexico (1941-1943) to assist at a Presbyterian hospital run by Dr. Sarah Bowen. Dr. Millican was a medical missionary in China under the Presbyterian Church Board of National Missions during World War II and for a period of time afterward. She returned to Embudo in 1948 and then became the physician in charge of the Mora Valley Medical Unit in Cleveland, New Mexico. From 1961-1964 Dr. Millican completed an obstetrics residency at Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia and then returned to New Mexico to establish a private practice in Las Vegas.

Dr. Millican retired from private practice in 1978 and moved to Albuquerque, but continued to work with a clinic program at the San Miguel Health Department. Edith Millican died in February, 1985.

Extent

1 folder and 2 audio cassettes

Additional Description

Abstract

This interview with lifelong missionary doctor Dr. Edith F. Millican (1914-1985), focuses on her quarter-century practice in northern New Mexico among the people of the Sangre de Cristos mountains.