Oral Histories | Scott Ford House Inc

The Granny Midwives
Oral History Project

The Mississippi’s “granny” midwives oral history project focuses on family members and community residents who were delivered by granny midwives or whose families have direct experiences with them.

The project centers two core areas of inquiry:

the role of granny midwives in childbirth and maternal care, and
their broader influence on children, families, and community life.

By collecting these stories, Scott Ford Houses, Inc. offers a statewide lens on the history of granny midwives, highlighting regional pride while deepening public understanding of Black women’s contributions to health and caregiving in Mississippi. These narratives expand the historical record and challenge long-standing gaps in how midwifery and women’s labor have been represented in archives and museums.

Scott Ford Houses, Inc. is uniquely positioned to steward this work through longstanding collaborations with the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University and the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, where project materials will be preserved and made accessible to broad audiences. Portions of this work culminated in a public exhibition at the Smith Robertson Museum, reinforcing the project’s guiding theme:

“Reclaiming Our Legacy and Shifting the Narrative of Mississippi Granny Midwives: A Storytelling Project.”