April is Black Women’s History Month.

During April, we will celebrate three iconic Clarksville women, all of whom are deceased. We begin with Mary Freeman Stevens, who is Linda Baylor’s great-grandmother.

Mary Stevens Freeman was born on March 21, 1880 and was one of Austin’s best-known midwives in the early part of the 20th century. She became a member of the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church at an early age and married John H. Freeman in 1998.Together they had 9 children and at the time of her death in 1975, she had 18 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren, and 24 great-great-grandchildren.

Midwives were among the most respected persons in the community and did far more than deliver babies. For example, they provided women with pre-natal counseling, practiced practical nursing, and treated ailments with home remedies, herbs, teas and roots. Midwives tended to be women of strong character, who were viewed as authority figures and had great influence over a community’s moral, and social fabric.

This photo was taken in 1956 when Mary Stevens Freeman was working as a maid at the Pease Mansion, formerly known as Woodlawn Plantation. She is dressed in her maid’s uniform.