Mary Breckenridge, a native of Memphis, TN, founded the Frontier Nursing Service. Born in 1881, she moved with her family to Russia when President Grover Cleveland to serve as U.S. ministry to that country. Following her husband’s death, two years into the marriage, she entered a nursing class at St. Luke Hospital in New York City. Both of her children of a second marriage died and he divorced her husband for unfaithfulness. She joined the American Committee for Devastated France following World War I. While in France, she observed French and British midwives and realized midwives could meet the healthcare needs of rural America’s mothers and babies. Very religious, she considered the approach her life’s calling.