[2] As a result of marital discord, during the 1880s Frances moved with her children to Washington, D.C., where Ionia grew up among the city's prosperous black middle class.

[2][3][4] Because her mother died before she completed medical school, Whipper borrowed money and worked as a teacher to support her own education.

[5] Between 1921 and 1929, Dr. Whipper worked for the United States Children's Bureau, which employed her to travel through the rural South educating midwives.

In 1931, together with seven other women from St. Luke's AME Church, she organized a charitable group, the Lend-A-Hand Club, which raised funds to support unwed African-American mothers.

[1][4] In 1931, with the club's support, she purchased 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land in the northwest part of Washington, D.C., where she opened the Ionia R. Whipper Home for Unwed Mothers, which served young women regardless of their race.