Mar 27, 2022 – Dr. Kim Heikkila – Booth Memorial Hospital History
Dr. Kim Heikkila, author of Booth Girls, shares about the history of the Booth Memorial Hospital before 1973. For 75 years, the Salvation Army operated a maternity home and hospital for unwed mothers in St. Paul, first on Jackson Street and then at 1471 Como Avenue. Booth Memorial Hospital housed thousands of young women who sought refuge – sometimes willingly, sometimes not — from the public censure that their status often elicited. Dr. Kim Heikkila’s mother was one of these women; she delivered her first daughter, Heikkila’s half-sister, at Booth in 1961, surrendered her for adoption, and kept the whole experience a secret for 33 years. In this presentation, Dr. Heikkila explores the intersection of her mother’s story with the history of Booth Memorial Hospital and changing cultural views of single pregnancy. The presentation concludes with a Q&A.