Friday, February 20, 2009

Maude Callen (1898-1990)


Mrs. Maude Callen.

"In the most special way, she is probably the greatest person I have been privileged to know: combining a marvelous wisdom and compassion, a strength of true humility and true pride, all given direction through knowledge and purpose in a sheer beautiful balance."
-- W. Eugene Smith, photograher


Taking the trek to see a patient.

Children take away food that Mrs. Callen had brought them.


Mrs. Callen helps a blind man in the store.


When Smith's story on Mrs. Callen appeared in Life magazine, contributions to her work poured in. With that money, $227,000 in all, Mrs. Callen and her husband built a clinic.

Maude Callen Part 1
Maude Callen Part 2
Maude Callen Part 3
Maude Callen Part 4
Maude Callen Part 5

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful woman Mrs. Maude Callen was. I am glad you posted Mr. Smith's photos and his description of her:

"In the most special way, she is probably the greatest person I have been privileged to know: combining a marvelous wisdom and compassion, a strength of true humility and true pride, all given direction through knowledge and purpose in a sheer beautiful balance."
-- W. Eugene Smith, photograher

Her work reminds me of the midwives in this documentary filmed in Mozambique, "Birth of a Surgeon":

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/birth-of-a-surgeon/video-full-episode/1795/

Donna