''The Forgotten Frontier'' is a 1931 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the Frontier Nursing Service, nurses on horseback, who traveled the back roads of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

of eastern Kentucky. It was directed by Mary Marvin Breckinridge, and featured her cousin, Mary Breckinridge, who was a nurse-midwife and founded the Frontier Nursing Service. Also featured are the people of

Leslie County, Kentucky Leslie County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat and largest city is Hyden, Kentucky, Hyden. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,513. It was formed in 1 ...

, many of whom reenacted their stories. The film was shot with a hand-cranked camera, often in extreme climate. Stills created during the film's production are available at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. A soundtrack was added in the 1990s by the Library of Congress. In 1996, this film has been selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films". Footage from the film was used in the 1984 documentary ''Frontier Nursing Service''.

References

External links

*
''The Forgotten Frontier''
on the

United States National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

* ''The Forgotten Frontier'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 178-17

* ''The Forgotten Frontier'' can be seen on the National Screening Room of the

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* 1931 films United States National Film Registry films Black-and-white documentary films American documentary films Sponsored films Documentary films about United States history Documentary films about pregnancy 1931 documentary films Works about midwifery Nursing in the United States Documentary films about Appalachia 1930s pregnancy films American black-and-white films American pregnancy films History of women in Kentucky 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language documentary films {{hist-documentary-film-stub