A pastor’s wife who moved to Morganton at the dawn of the 20th century has left a legacy of care for fellow human beings that still shines brightly today.
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Pastor’s wife helps found, lead Grace Hospital
Pastor’s wife helps found, lead area hospital
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Pictured is a postcard depicting nurses at Grace Hospital sometime between 1908 and 1924. The postcard shows Mary Hughson, superintendent of the hospital, second from left in the back row; Maria Allen, superintendent of nurses, first from left in the front row; Dr. J.B. Riddle, first from left, back row; and Alice Wood Wilds, who later became nursing superintendent, third from left, front row. The rest of the nurses are unidentified.
Morganton News Herald Pictured is Mary Hughson, co-founder of Grace Hospital. “The old Grace Hospital cornerstone — set in 1929 — was opened 50 years later in 1979 by the Grace Hospital board of directors,” said Anna Wilson, a representative of UNC Health Blue Ridge, the health system that now owns the former Grace Hospital. “The contents included a Holy Bible, a Book of Common Prayer, a Book of Offices and Prayers for Priests and People of Episcopal Churches. Inside this book rested a tin model of a cross worn by the Rev. Walter Hughson and Mrs. Hughson. The model may have been used by jewelry manufacturers in producing replicas of the cross, which was the insignia of the Grace Hospital School of Nursing. The school adopted the cross instead of the usual pin used by most nursing schools. You can see the cross in every photo of Mrs. Hughson.”
Morganton News Herald The Rev. Walter Hughson and his wife, Mary Hughson, often received visiting Episcopalian dignitaries in Morganton. Pictured in the back row from this circa 1906 photo are Bishop J.M. Horner, who later became bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and the Rev. Edmund Joyner, general missionary of the Missionary District of Asheville. Pictured middle row, from left, are an unidentified man, Eva Dixon Joyner, Dorothy Hughson, the Rev. Walter Hughson and Maria P. Allen. Pictured front row, from left, are Marjorie Hughson, Mary Hughson and Deaconess Ruth Wilds. Marjorie and Dorothy were the Hughson’s daughters.
