Wilma Rudolph Research Paper

Wilma Rudolph Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940 to Ed and Blanche Rudolph. She was born in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee and raised in Clarksville, Tennessee. Wilma was born prematurely at 4.5 pounds, the 20th of 22 other brothers and sisters. She and her mother were not permitted to be cared for at the local hospital, because of racial segregation. The hospital was for whites only and there was only one black doctor in Clarksville. The Rudolph's budget was tight, so Wilma's mother spent the next several years nursing Wilma. She was a sick child that had many childhood diseases, one illness after another: measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox and double pneumonia. Wilma is a miracle child, she wasn't expected to live a long life.