Nurse Midwife Maude Callen, Pineville, South Carolina

Artist W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978)

CultureAmerican

Date1951, printed 1977

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 12 7/8 × 9 13/16 in. (32.7 × 24.9 cm)
Overall, Support: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)

InscribedSigned on mount, under photograph. On the back of the mount is a sticker with the following information: W. Eugene Smith / A Portfolio of Ten Photographs / A portfolio of 10 original prints by W. Eugene Smith. A limited edition of 25 portfolios, this being print No. 6 of portfolio No. 5 / Published July 1977 by Witkin-Berley Ltd / 34 Sherwood Lane / Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 11577.

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, and with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hirschbiel

Object number2001.32.2

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print. This image depicts nurse midwife Maude Callen delivering a newborn child in a rural backwoods home. There is a light coming from a gas lantern in the background. The newborn is in the center of the print. The father stands on the left side. This is part of a larger photo-story that was first published in Life Magazine.

Label TextW. Eugene Smith American, 1918−1978 Nurse Midwife Maude Callen, Pineville, South Carolina, 1951 Gelatin silver print (photograph), printed 1977 5:30 A.M. A few seconds after the normal delivery, Maude Callen holds the healthy child as he fills his lungs and begins to cry. – LIFE (December 3, 1951) While newspapers have long used photographs as evidence of current events, magazines like LIFE and LOOK offered photo-essays in the 1940s and ‘50s that told stories largely through pictures alone. This image comes from a series by photojournalist Eugene Smith who visited South Carolina to profile the work of Maude Callen (1898−1990). Shown here delivering a baby, Callen was the sole healthcare provider serving a 400-square-mile region. Smith’s photographs gave national attention to the extreme poverty in the mostly black, rural communities she served. Privileged readers were surprised to learn that such harsh conditions existed inside the United States, and these photos inspired them to send support. Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, and with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hirschbiel 2001.32.2 ProvenanceBarry Singer Gallery, Petaluma, California; Purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hirschbiel and in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2001. Exhibition History"History of Photography," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, Fall, 2001. "Women and the Civil Rights Movement," Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, June 14 - October 30, 2016. "Photographs Take Time: Pictures from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, April 6 - August 26, 2018. "Come Together, Right Now: The Art of Gathering," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 11, 2020 - January 3, 2021.Published ReferencesW. Eugene Smith, "Nurse Midwife: Maude Callen eases pain of birth, life and death," _Life Magazine_ December 3, 1951. W. Eugene Smith, with afterword by Lincoln Kirstein, _W. Eugene Smith, His Photographs and Notes_ (New York, Ny.: Aperture, Inc., 1969): plate 59. William S. Johnson, _W. Eugene Smith, Master of the Photographic Essay_, (Millerton, Ny.: Aperture, 1981): 102.