Class of 1919
Graduation Essay: “The Effect of the Great War on Christian Missions”

Mont Amoena teacher, 1922-1923.

Birth: April 30, 1901, Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus, North Carolina.
Death: July 21, 1990, Stanly, North Carolina.

Parents:
James Henry Cornelius Fisher (1859-1933)
Leah Jeanette Blackwelder Fisher (1870-1965)

Siblings:
Katherine Brown Fisher Barrier (1899 – 1977)
Mary Virginia Fisher (1903 – 1978)
Henry Lee Fisher (1909 – 1971)

Spouse: Luther Bowman Barrier (1896-1987)
Marriage: 8 Jan 1978, Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Burial:
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery
Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, USA

Source: www.findagrave.com, # 30082675.

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From North Carolina Nursing History – Appalachian State University
http://nursinghistory.appstate.edu/counties/cabarrus-county

Amy Fisher Barrier was born in 1901 in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina to Rev. James Henry Cornelius Fisher and Leah Janette Blackwelder Fisher.  Her father was a professor at Mount Amonea Seminary.  Barrier graduated from Mount Amonea Seminary, and soon after attended Marion College in Virginia.  Barrier officially graduated from Carthage College in Carthage, North Carolina.  However, she received her nursing degree from the Cincinnati General Hospital in Ohio in 1927.  This was after some thought of becoming a medical missionary to India.  Barrier worked in the hospital setting until moving into public health.  She completed the public health course at William and Mary College.  This took her to work at the Mountain Mission School near Chilhowie, Virginia.  Later she became the Lutheran Watauga Parish Nurse in Boone, North Carolina.  Barrier was sponsored by the Women’s Missionary Society.  Later the State Board of Health started the Health Department, and Fisher became an employee of the state.  She continued doing the same type of work in the community.  Barrier enjoyed her work in Boone, North Carolina, and later went to receive her Master’s Degree with a concentration in supervision and public health nursing at Columbia University.  Barrier excelled in this position and held many supervisory positions.  As her career grew she later became the Chief Nurse of the Public Health Nursing Section for the state of North Carolina.  She retired in 1967 and returned to her home town of Mt. Pleasant.

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Watch Amy Louise Fisher in action as a nurse while with the Watauga Mission to help Appalachian Mountain residents near Boone, NC, in 1934.

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675023109_Health-care-in-Appalachia_Nurse-Amy-Louise-Fisher_tooth-extraction_vaccination

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The Jacob Fisher Family, 1727-1958, compiled by James L. Fisher, Arthur W. Fisher, Hilbert A. Fisher, (Charlotte, N. C.; 1959), p. 142-143.

11-8 AMY LOUISE FISHER, b. Apr. 30, 1901.

Born and brought up at Mt. Amoena Seminary, Mt. Pleasant, N. C. Amy Louise Fisher graduated also from Marion Junior College and Carthage College. She took nurses training at the College of Nursing and Health, University of Cincinnati.

Public Health Nursing was the field she chose for her life work. it was her privilege to serve as school and community nurse at Konnorock Training School, Konnorock, Virginia and also as Parish Nurse, Watauga Lutheran Mission, Boone, N. C. When Wagauga County organized a health department the Board of American Missions decided to discontinue the support of the health work and released Amy to become the county nurse.

After a few years she was granted a scholarship for a year of study at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she received a Master of Arts degree in Public Health Nursing. Her next position was that of supervising Public Health Nurses in the Durham County Health Department. She served as Chief, Public Health Nursing Section, State Board of Health, for more than fourteen years. At her own request she was allowed to transfer to her present position of Public Health Nursing Consultant with headquarters in Cabarrus County at Mt. Pleasant. N. C.

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p. 37-38

KONNAROCK TRAINING SCHOOL:
FULFILLING A MISSION

Not only was there a shortage of educational opportunity in the mountains; there was also a shocking lack of medical care. When KTS was opened, one of the staff hired was a nurse, a practice that continued even after a doctor was brought to the community in 1939. The first duty of the nurse was of course to care for the KTS students, both boarding and day. The school nurse conducted the statemandated physical examinations for public school students, and she cared for students through illnesses, seeking the services of a physician when the children were beyond her care. In addition, the nurse taught health and hygiene classes, and soon instituted a school lunch program for day students. Without telephone service in the area and without any local physicians–the nearest were in Marion, Damascus, and Chilhowie–the work of the school nurse took on greater and greater importance. Soon a dispensary was set up in the basement of the school building, and local individuals could come there when they needed health care. Not only did the nurse see patients at the dispensary, but she also conducted clinics and gave immunizations throughout the area.

When Miss Amy Louise Fisher became the nurse, she prevailed upon the church and school to build a separate dispensary building next to the school. When this building was completed, also with chestnut bark siding, it was furnished with examination tables, a dental chair, and other medical equipment (Gay, 1998). Miss Fisher was often able to convince doctors and dentists to donate their time to the clinics, but the shortage of a doctor still plagued the school and community. In some cases, the school bore the expense of medical treatment even for children who did not attend, seeing to it that they
saw doctors or had needed operations.

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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), 22 Jul 1990, p. 10B

MOUNT PLEASANT – Mrs. Amy Louise Fisher Barrier, 89, retired registered nurse, died July 21, 1990, at N. C. Lutheran Home in Albemarle. Funeral is 4 p.m. Monday at Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity. Visitation is 6 to 8 tonight at Gordon Funeral Home.

Survivors are her nephews and nieces.

Memorials may be made to Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, P. O. Box 595, Mount Pleasant, N. C. 28124-0595.