“S” is for Sheriff, Hilla (1903-1988)

“S” is for Sheriff, Hilla (1903-1988). Physician, public health official. A native of Pickens County, Sheriff attended the College of Charleston and the Medical College of the State of South Carolina. In 1929 she opened a pediatric practice in Spartanburg. From 1933 to 1940 she served as deputy and later chief health officer for Spartanburg County. In 1940 Sheriff became the assistant director of the state Board of Health’s Division of Maternal and Child Health. She advanced to director the following year and continued to administer programs for women and children until 1967. Her efforts to train and license lay midwives in South Carolina reveal the pragmatism that guided her public health policies.  From 1967 to 1974 Hilla Sheriff was deputy commissioner of the State Board of Health and chief of the Bureau of Community Health Services.