Berkeley County Councilman Caldwell Pinckney, Jr. wasn’t fed with a silver spoon growing up.
Pinckney, who’s black, is the son of a father with a second-grade education, and a mother who spent many days tending to Pinckney and his nine siblings.
The councilman joked saying if he had two pairs of shoes, one pair probably had holes in the soles.
A similar story is likely shared by many black residents who grew up in a rural and segregated Berkeley County in the mid-1900s.
Whatever they could call their own, they took pride in. That included Nurse Maude Callen. While she served black and white residents, black patients viewed her Nurse Maude as one of them.
Callen made sure that if her patients did not have anything else, they retained good health.
The famous nurse served as a midwife throughout the county. She offered shots and immunizations for residents throughout Berkeley County who otherwise could not afford it.
“A lot of times we couldn’t even afford to go to doctors because of the economics back then,” Pinckney said. “She was the guiding angel that some people referred to her as being…we didn’t take any great pleasure then in getting those shots…in retrospect that was God sent. I think that’s why a lot of us are here today because of her concern. Her service to people in rural Berkeley County.”
A Florida native, Callen made her way to Pineville with her in husband in the 1920s and worked as a missionary. She traveled more than 36,000 miles a year tending to patients. As a midwife, Callen delivered more than 800 babies.
In 1953, after Life magazine highlighted the midwife serving in the segregated South through a photo essay, Callen got financial support start a health clinic. It operated until 1986, shortly before her death in 1990.
“We couldn’t afford to go to doctors,” Pinckney said. “We couldn’t afford to take care of the basic things when it came to healthcare. We were used to a lot of home remedies and they were good in their place. Sometimes you need something in your system to combat those disease(s) that’s in your system. Those shots did that. Her time. Her efforts.”
Currently, the health clinic still stands on Highway 405 in Pineville – inside Pinckney’s District 7. Its structure is battered and features broken windows and scattered debris.
Pinckney said Berkeley County Council started the process of deeding the building to the Sumpter Free Health Clinic.
Councilman Caldwell Pinckney, Jr. stands in front of the Maude Callen Health Clinic.
Sumpter Free plans to preserve the building to host health fairs, activities for adults, and educational programs for children.
A historical marker was also placed in front of the site detailing Callen’s legacy.
Pinckney, who has worked hard with State Rep. Joe Jefferson to make the site a historical landmark, said the contributions of blacks are often ignored.
“Often times, we as blacks get left out of history,” he said. “Sometimes, we forget [where] we are because of the history. Because of people providing their service, giving their talent, their time and their tithe for the good of mankind. That’s why it’s important to preserve that. To recognize the legacy that folks like Ms. Maude Callen have left for us. That encourages others to do the same thing. You make a life living, somebody said, from what you’re given. But you make a life by what you give. That’s service.”
Callen provides the blueprint for using one’s skills towards a good cause, Pinckney says. He said Callen showed him that good deeds pay off in the end.
“If you learn how to do good for others while you can…then it’s going to come back to you,” he said. “Good gives rise to good. And we know that from our teaching, so shall a man soweth, so shall he reap. You sow good seed, you expect to reap good crop. That’s survival. It’s about doing good to one another.”
