Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home Restoration

The Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home was the private residence and workplace of third-generation African American midwife Beatrice Borders (1892-1971), who delivered over 6,000 babies over the course of her lifetime. Operating as a lay midwife for many years, Beatrice opened the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home in 1941 in honor of her mother, establishing a safe place where expecting African American mothers could give birth. Operating throughout segregation and the Jim Crow era, the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home was the only African-American owned nursing home for expectant mothers in Georgia for over 30 years. As stated by former Camilla Mayor and Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home Inc. President Mary Jo Haywood, “This place virtually birthed a city.”

Vacant for many years, the house is deteriorating quickly and in need of restoration. It is the goal of this group to perform a sensitive historic restoration in keeping with the Secretary's Standards as the home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A Preservation Plan to guide future efforts is currently underway.

GBWNH, Inc.'s mission is to ensure that the historic contributions of Mrs. Beatrice Borders, the founder of the birthing center, never be forgotten nor destroyed by maintaining the dwelling's future existence as a museum and educational center in Mitchell County.

To learn more, visit www.beasbabies.org