Maternity Hospital, also known as Ripley Memorial Hospital and currently known as Ripley Gardens, is a former hospital building in the Harrison neighborhood of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The hospital was established by Dr.

Martha Ripley Martha George Rogers Ripley (November 30, 1843 – April 18, 1912) was an American physician, suffragist, and professor of medicine. Founder of the Maternity Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ripley was one of the most outspoken activists for ...

in 1886 in response to the exceptionally high

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...

s for women in

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

. Dr. Ripley was one of only a few female physicians in the late 19th century, and she employed only women as physicians and board members. The hospital provided services for primarily poor, unmarried, and widowed women. The hospital was originally located in a house at 316 15th Street South, but it quickly outgrew that house and moved to 2529 4th Avenue South. Demand continued to grow, so in 1896 the hospital purchased a house on of land at the corner of Glenwood and Penn Avenues. The hospital built the Marshall Stacy Nursery in 1909, followed by the Babies' Bungalow in 1910 and the Emily Paddock Cottage in 1911. Also in 1911, Ripley appealed to the government for funds to build an even larger building. Ripley died on April 18, 1912, of a respiratory infection. In 1916, the new building was completed. The hospital was renamed from Maternity Hospital to Ripley Memorial Hospital at that time. The hospital served the community until 1957, when it was closed due to low occupancy and funding problems. The hospital building was sold to Children's Hospital of Minneapolis, and the remaining funds were used to establish the Ripley Memorial Foundation. The foundation has sponsored

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period bet ...

prevention programs since 1993. The former hospital buildings were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980. The building was redeveloped in 2007 b
Aeon
a Minneapolis organization that provides affordable housing. The development, now known as Ripley Gardens, provides housing for low- to moderate-income residents, and provides both rental housing and home ownership opportunities. The redevelopment was one of twelve properties around the nation funded by the

Restore America Restore may refer to: * ReStore - Retail building supply stores run by local Habitat for Humanity affiliates *"Restore", a single by Chris August * Restore International, former name of Love Does, a nonprofit organization *Restore plc, a British do ...

program, sponsored by the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

and

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

References

External links

Ripley Memorial Foundation

Ripley Gardens
{{National Register of Historic Places Hospital buildings completed in 1916 National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Defunct hospitals in Minnesota Women in Minnesota