\"Medal of Freedom\" Lena Frances Edwards Hand Signed 3X5 Card For Sale

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\"Medal of Freedom\" Lena Frances Edwards Hand Signed 3X5 Card:
$349.99

Up for sale "Medal of Freedom" Lena Frances Edwards Hand Signed 3X5 Card. 

ES-4723E

Lena

Frances Edwards (September

17, 1900 – December 3, 1986) was a New Jersey physician who was awarded the Presidential Medal of

Freedom. Edwards was born in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 1900. She was the daughter of dentist and oral surgeon

Thomas Edwards and Marie Coakley Edwards, a homemaker. Edwards was

valedictorian of her class at Washington's Dunbar High

School in 1917. She completed her undergraduate studies

at Howard University in

three years, and graduated from Howard University Medical School in 1924. While

at Howard Edwards joined Delta Sigma Theta, and served as chapter president from

1920-1921. She and Keith Madison, a fellow student at the medical school, were

married following their graduation. They had six children together between 1925

and 1939. She separated from Madison in 1947. Edwards died in 1986 in Lakewood, New Jersey. 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 white supremacy and

the patriarchy created barriers to prevent the professional advancement of

Black women, 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 of Colored Women's Clubs and chaired the Maternal

Welfare Committee of the District of Columbia Urban League. At the age

of 60, 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 Head Start until

her retirement in 1970. Edwards was a devout adherent of Roman Catholic Christianity throughout her life. In 1947

she became a lay member of the Third Order of Saint

Francis. Her son Thomas Madison joined the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in

1953 taking the religious name Martin. He was ordained in 1962, and was the first

African American priest to be ordained in the Society of the Atonement. Her

service was recognized by President Johnson in 1964, when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of

Freedom. In 1966 she was awarded an honorary degree from Saint Peter's College, New

Jersey. She was awarded the Poverello

Medal in 1967. 

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