Maude Callen was born in Quincy, Florida, in 1898. She was educated at Florida A & M and took a nursing course before moving to Berkeley County as a nurse and midwife in 1923. Sponsored by the Episcopal Church, Callen spent 13 years as a nurse and midwife in the Pineville area before joining the Berkeley County Health Department. Her work, which included the training of hundreds of midwifes, took her to all parts of Berkeley County.
In 1951, Life magazine published a twelve-page photographic profile of Callen’s work, which generated some $27,000 in contributions used to construct a modern clinic in Pineville. Callen continued work at this clinic until her retirement in 1971.
Callen was named Outstanding Older South Carolinian in 1981 by the South Carolina Commission on Aging, and was presented the Order of the Palmetto by Governor Richard W. Riley.
She was also presented the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award in 1984 for sixty years of service to her community and was featured in a 1983 segment of “On the Road with Charles Kuralt.”
Honored many times in Berkeley County, Callen continued to volunteer as manager of the Senior Citizens Nutrition Council in Pineville and personally delivered meals on wheels five days a week until her death in 1990.
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