Faye Wattleton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Faye Wattleton
|
|
|---|---|
2009
|
|
| President of ... | |
| In office 1978–1992 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alyce Faye Wattleton
8 July 1943 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education | Ohio State University (BA) Columbia University (MS) |
| Occupation | Feminist activist Author and news commentator Registered nurse |
Faye Wattleton (born Alyce Faye Wattleton; 8 July 1943) is an American leader in health care. She was the first African American and the youngest person ever to become president of ... Federation of America. She was also the first woman to hold this important role since Margaret Sanger.
Today, Faye Wattleton is a co-founder and director at EeroQ, a company that works with quantum computing. She is well-known for her work in helping families and improving health care for women. She has also been a strong voice for people's rights to make their own health decisions.
Faye Wattleton's Early Life
Faye Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1943. She was the only child in her family. Her father worked in construction, and her mother was a seamstress. Her mother was also a minister for the Church of God.
Because of her mother's work, the family often traveled when Faye was a child. She saw how much her mother's sermons affected the people listening. For eight years, Faye stayed with relatives and friends while her parents traveled for work.
Even though her mother did not always agree with her later work in health care, Faye Wattleton says her upbringing taught her an important lesson. This lesson was about not judging others. She believes this idea greatly influenced her future work in helping families.
Education and First Jobs
Faye Wattleton started attending Ohio State University when she was 16 years old. In 1964, she earned a bachelor's degree in nursing. After that, she taught at a nursing school in Dayton, Ohio for two years.
While she was studying nursing, Wattleton also worked at the Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. There, she took care of children who had been hurt, neglected, or were very sick.
In 1967, Wattleton graduated from Columbia University in New York. She earned her Master's of Science degree in maternal and infant care. She also became certified as a nurse-midwife. This means she was trained to help mothers and babies during pregnancy and childbirth.
After finishing her studies, Wattleton took a job in Dayton, Ohio. She became the deputy chief of the Dayton Ohio Health Department's visiting nurse association's programs for mothers and children. For two years, she also taught nursing at the Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Dayton.
While working in Dayton, Wattleton noticed something important. About 30 percent of pregnant mothers were not getting any care before their babies were born. She had seen how neighborhood health clinics helped pregnant women in New York. So, Wattleton worked hard to create a similar system in Dayton.
Her efforts paid off, and a new clinic was opened. At this clinic, Wattleton and another nurse would help patients with smaller health issues. They would then send them to local hospitals for more serious problems or for childbirth. This helped many mothers get the care they needed.
