Charlotte Wilen Papers

Charlotte Wilen has been active in community service in Atlanta for 30 years. She was president of the Maternal and Child Health Institute, Inc., president of the Continuum Alliance for Human Development; a member of the Georgia Planning Group for Health Promotion; a member of the Governor’s Commission on Obstetrics and a member of the Board of Directors of Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. She was also on the national task force on Maternal and Infant Health March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. As a member of B’nai B’rith Women she organized “Operation Stork” and the “Well Baby Clinic.” In 1962 President John F. Kennedy asked the states to focus on ways to treat and prevent mental retardation. In response, a committee chaired by J.D. Thompson, M.D., the Chief of Emory University’s Ob/Gyn Department at Grady Memorial Hospital, developed a written initiative called “A Proposed Plan to Prevent Mental Retardation Through Improved Maternal and Infant Care.” The plan included strong statewide efforts to educate Georgians about the issues surrounding maternal and infant health. In keeping with the goals of improving perinatal outcomes, in 1968 two groups came together to establish ‘Operation Stork.” The Jewish Women International (led by Charlotte Wilen) and the March of Dime started this outreach and education program for pregnant women at the South Fulton Clinic. They offered free layettes and maternity clothes as incentives for women who visited the clinic for prenatal care. Soon, their program expanded to Grady Hospital’s prenatal clinic, and through a consortium of additional women’s organizations – including the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, the Jewish Women International, the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Service Guild, and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority/Epsilon Chapter – many other focused educational projects were also born.