Lena Frances Edwards - Medical Career

Medical Career

In 1925, Edwards and her husband moved to Jersey City, New Jersey and each entered medical practice. She became a speaker on public health and a natural childbirth advocate while serving the European immigrant community of Hudson County, New Jersey. In 1931, she joined the staff of Margaret Hague Hospital in Jersey City, but because her race and sex were regarded as barriers to professional advancement, she was not admitted to residency in obstetrics and gynecology there until 1945.

Edwards returned to Washington in 1954 and taught obstetrics at Howard University Medical School. She would not accept a position as department chair because of her religious objections to abortion. She was the medical adviser to the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and chaired the Maternal Welfare Committee of the District of Columbia Urban League.

At the age of sixty, Edwards helped found Our Lady of Guadeloupe Maternity Clinic in Hereford, Texas, a mission serving Mexican migrant worker families. She served at the mission until 1965, when a heart attack led her to leave and move back to Washington. She worked there at the Office of Economic Opportunity and Project Head Start until her retirement in 1970.