Ionia Rollin Whipper | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 8, 1872 Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | April 13, 1953 (aged 80) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Doctor of Medicine |
| Alma mater | Howard University |
| Parent(s) | William James Whipper Frances Anne Rollin Whipper[1][2] |
| Relatives | William Whipper (paternal great uncle)[2] Leigh Whipper (brother)[3] Leighla Whipper (niece) |
Ionia Rollin Whipper (September 8, 1872 – April 13, 1953) was an American obstetrician and public health outreach worker. A 1903 graduate of Howard University School of Medicine, she was one of the few African-American women physicians of her generation. During the mid-1920s, she worked for the United States Children's Bureau; her work there involved traveling the rural South and training midwives to use sterile delivery techniques and to register births.
During a time when maternity homes for unwed mothers were for white women only, she opened her home to unwed mothers of color. Eventually, with the help of donations, she established a separate home for her work with these women, which still bears her name.
- ^ Lewis, Carole Ione. "Whipper, Ionia Rollin (1872-1953)". Blackpast.org. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
- ^ a b Sommerville, Raymond R. (1992). "Ionia Rollin Whipper". In Carney Smith, Jessie (ed.). Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 1248–1249.
- ^ Ione, Carole (2004). Pride of Family: Four Generations of American Women of Color. New York: Harlem Moon. ISBN 0767918444.