Valerie Friedman McNown was born in Messina, New York in 1916. Raised in the United States and Canada, she graduated from Michigan State University in 1938. Dr. Friedman graduated from McGill University with an M. D. in 1945. After pediatrics residencies at Children's Memorial Hospital (Montreal, Canada) and Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio), she spent from 1948-1950 as a contract physician with the U. S. government at Los Alamos, New Mexico. She opened a private practice and worked for the state's health department at the end of her government contract.
Dr. Friedman practiced in northern New Mexico for forty years. After her retirement in 1987, she opened an antique shop. She and her architect husband, Allen, moved to Nambe, New Mexico.
From the guide to the Valerie F. McNown Oral History, May 1989
