Martha George Ripley (November 30, 1843–1912) of Lowell, Vermont was an American physician and founder of the Maternity Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ripley was nominated director of public schools but not elected because she was female. She served six years as president of the Minnesota Suffrage Association.
Maternity Hospital, later renamed Ripley Memorial Hospital, remained in operation until 1957, when it was closed due to low occupancy and funding problems. The hospital structure was sold, and the proceeds were used to create the Ripley Memorial Foundation. Since 1993, the foundation has focused on supporting programs that prevent teenage pregnancies.
In 2007, the historic Dr. Martha Ripley Maternity Hospital was re-developed into affordable apartment homes by Aeon, a Minneapolis-based non-profit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing. The site - which had been vacant and boarded for several years - was renamed Ripley Gardens in honor of Dr. Martha Ripley. The development restored a historic property, helps meet the community’s need for affordable homes, and continues Dr. Ripley’s tradition of serving those in need.
Famous quotes containing the word martha:
“You’ve strung your breasts
with a rattling rope of pearls,
tied a jangling belt
around those deadly hips
and clinking jewelled anklets
on both your feet.
So, stupid,
if you run off to your lover like this,
banging all these drums,
then why
do you shudder with all this fear
and look up, down;
in every direction?”
—Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.?, Kashmirian king, compiler, author of some of the poems in the anthology which bears his name. translated from the Amaruataka by Martha Ann Selby, vs. 31, Motilal Banarsidass (1983)