Jackson Free Press

Ten years ago, the Women's Fund of Mississippi named Helen Barnes one of its Women of Vision. Barnes is a former professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and one of the first African American female physicians to practice medicine in Mississippi. This year, Barnes is helping the organization celebrate 10 years of philanthropy for women and girls in the state.

Barnes, 84, was born in Jackson in 1929 and moved to New York City with her mother in 1938. She attended Holy Providence Boarding School in Cornwell Heights, Penn., for elementary school. Barnes developed an interest in medicine while helping in the school's infirmary.

"While I was helping the sisters in the infirmary, one of my classmates died," Barnes said. "I started studying diseases and developed a curiosity for medicine. I learned about sickle cell disease and realized that's what my classmate had. I remember wanting to become a doctor to prevent others I knew from dying of diseases."

Barnes attended St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School in New York City and went on to Hunter College, also in New York City. She studied chemistry, biology and other sciences with the intent of being a pre-med major.

"My counselor at the time talked about how women weren't wanted in medicine at the time," Barnes said. "He said the best bet for me was to major in the sciences so I could get a job."

Barnes persevered in her desire to work in medicine. In 1954, she enrolled at Howard University's College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., in 1954. When she graduated four years later, she started an internship at King's County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Barnes moved back to Mississippi in 1959 to work at Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood.

"When I came back to Mississippi, it was completely segregated," Barnes said. "It was a different environment altogether. I couldn't do the same things here as in New York. People told me I couldn't treat white people here. I had to tell white patients not to come to me. I had three white patients come to me before desegregation. I tried to tell them I wasn't supposed to see them, but they just laughed about it. I thought (not being allowed to treat all patients) was just weird."

Barnes left Mississippi after the assassination of Medgar Evers in 1963 and returned to New York, where she started her OB/GYN residency at King's County Hospital.

"I came back to Mississippi in 1968 when a colleague named Dr. Jack Gieger asked me to come and work with him at Tufts-Delta Health Center, a federally funded comprehensive health center for the poor that had recently been established in Mound Bayou, Mississippi," Barnes said. "I had worked in Mississippi, and I knew how hard it was, but I decided to go along with it to help the poor here."

Barnes joined the UMMC faculty as an assistant professor of medicine in 1969 and stayed on until she retired in 2003.

After her retirement, Barnes assisted in starting the Primary Care Clinic for women at the Jackson Medical Mall, which became the primary clinic site for the National Center of Excellence in Women's Health at UMMC.

Barnes served as chairwoman for the Statewide Health Coordinating Council during the administrations of Govs. William Winter and Bill Allain and served on the Mississippi State Board of Licensure during the administration of Gov. Kirk Fordice.