This thesis explores the story of the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), a rural health care delivery system established in Hyden, Kentucky in 1925. It is particularly concerned with examining the colonial construction of the organization created by the founder, Mary Breckinridge. This construction created a conceptual framework for the technological infrastructure of the FNS, and influenced interactions of FNS employees and the Appalachians who lived in the area served by them. A case study concerning the clinical trials of the birth control pi11, Enovid, is used to highlight in influence of colonial constructions and mentalities in convincing the trial's investigators that the FNS was a suitable place for them to be conducted. And finally, this thesis critiques two theoretical models of colonialism of by scholars in Appalachian Studies and Science and Technology Studies, and suggests new directions which might be undertaken this area. / Master of Science