Frontier Nursing Service, Kentucky
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 23.1 x 19 cm (9 1/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Marvin Breckinridge Patterson
Accession Number
1997.56.1
Art Historical Context
In 1937, Marvin Breckinridge Patterson captured *Frontier Nursing Service,*, a poignant gelatin silver print that documents the vital work of nurse-midwives in rural Appalachia. Patterson, a pioneering female photographer known for her documentary style, joined the Frontier Nursing Service (FNSfounded in 1925 by Mary Breckridge—to highlight their horseback deliveries and healthcare outreach amid the Great Depression's hardships. This 9⅛ × 7½-inch image, now in the National Gallery of's photography collection (gifted by the artist), embodies the era's social realism, akin to Farm Security Admin...