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ABOUT SCOTT FORD HOUSE, INC.
These 122-year old Mississippi Landmarks honor Mississippi Granny Midwives and is perhaps the only such extant site in the U.S.
Crises often clarify important roles that forgotten heroes played in our families and communities. With COVID 19 many women who typically had worked outside of their homes, have out of necessity returned home or found new ways to work and balance family life. Few existing historic sites remind us of the invaluable roles that women have played in health care for centuries in nearly every culture. Such is the role of the midwife who since ancient times served women and children from all walks of life—those who lived in palaces and those who were enslaved.
The Scott Ford Houses are a site that remind us of our commonalities and the importance of communities. The midwife is an example of moments where societal barriers of race and class barriers could be set aside and less educated could be celebrated leaders and those with status could honor the skill, compassion, and humanity of these hardworking women. Although modern medicine eroded midwifery’s importance for a time, ironically this role that women have played historically in communities has now returned and are even welcomed in some progressive hospital settings as a natural birthing alternative.
As a result of the work of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, in 2022 the Mississippi Legislature appropriated $200,000 for the restoration of 136 Cohea Street.
This Granny Midwife story was told in the exhibit “Reclaiming Our Legacy and Shifting the Narrative of Mississippi Granny Midwives: A Storytelling Project.” The exhibit opened at the Smith Robertson Museum, June 17th & 18th, 2022. The Story of the Scott Ford Houses is a unique preservation opportunity that Mississippi can share with pride and excellence as a celebration of Black women and all women from every culture who have been entrepreneurs and community servants.
The profession of midwifery literally preserved the mothers and aided those whom William Ross Wallace credited as “the hand that rules the world.” Both our common sons and daughters and the local and national variety of great leaders have a debt to the midwife. We hope the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will spread its wings to honor these great women.