Lena Frances Edwards

Lena Frances Edwards (September 17, 1900 – December 3, 1986) was a New Jersey physician who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

Early life and education Edwards was born in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 1900. She was the daughter of dentist and oral surgeon Thomas W. Edwards and Marie Coakley Edwards, a homemaker. Her father taught at the Howard University College of Dentistry. She donated more than a third of the money needed for the building's construction costs, and worked there without pay. He was ordained in 1962, and was the first African American priest to be ordained in the Society of the Atonement. Her work at Hereford was inspired at her son's seminary: After attending a Catholic Mass there, she said that she wanted to serve the poor when her children were grown. One of her son's classmates recommended that she visit Hereford. She went first for a long visit and later went back to build the clinic.

Honors and legacy

Her service was recognized by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1966, she received an honorary degree from Saint Peter's College, New Jersey. In 1967, she received the Poverello Medal.

She was a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons.

In 1955, she was named the Medical Woman of the Year by the New Jersey district of the American Medical Women's Association.