The Social Medicine Portal

A visit with Dr. Walter Lear

[Originally Posted in January of 2007.  For information on Dr. Lear's 85th birthday party -  May 4th 2008 - click here. ]

In late November 2006 the editors of the Social Medicine Portal visited the US Health Left History Center and its Health Activism History Collection in West Philadelphia. Here is a report on what we learned:

The Health Left History Center and its Collection were created by Dr. Walter J. Lear who in 1970 switched his professional work from public health to medical history, with the mission of “bringing out of the closet the history of the US health left and related activism.” Dr. Lear has also been a tireless and distinguished activist, recently receiving the American Public Health Associations Helen Rodriguez-Trias Award for Social Justice. Although “uncomfortable in the world of academia” by self-report, he is one of the founders and an officer of the Sigerist Society, an organization of critical and radical medical history scholars. Most of the materials in the unique and extensive Health Activism History Collection might have been lost but for the efforts of Dr. Lear. For example when describing his discovery of the complete organizational records of the American Soviet Medical Society (formed by Henry E. Sigerist), Dr. Lear explained how they had been stored in cartons in a Brooklyn basement, forgotten and untouched since the Society’s demise fifty years earlier. He subsequently used these records to write a chapter about the Society which was published in Elizabeth Fee and Theodore Brown’s Making Medical History: The Life and Times of Henry E. Sigerist. The Health Activism History Collection has seven divisions:

1. Archives of Organizations, Campaigns and Movements: These include the Medical Committee for Human Rights, the Physicians’ Forum, the Philadelphia women’s health movement of the 1970’s and 1980’s, American medical support for Spanish democracy, the American Soviet Medical Society and the various campaigns for national health insurance and a national health service.

2. Personal Papers of Health Activists: These include Dr. Lear’s papers as well as those of Ruth Blier, Carl Dahlgren, JoAnne Fischer, Frank Furstenberg Sr, and Paul Lowinger.

3. Images: The collection contains over a 1000 photographs, cartoons and other images in 22 subject categories.

4. Audio-visual materials: The collection contains some 70 audio-interviews of health activists and a smaller number of videos.

5. Rare and Special Books, Pamphlets and Serials: 200 books, about 1000 pamphlets and twelve serials are located in this division. We had a chance to peruse Iago Galdston’s two books on Social Medicine.

6. Reference Division: This division contains information on over a 1000 individuals associated with the US health left. Dr. Lear is preparing a talk on pediatrician activists and showed us his four inch thick file on Allan Butler, a Chief of Pediatrics at Harvard and the Massachusetts General Hospital who had been persecuted by the House Un-American Affairs Commiteee despite being an anti-communist. This division also has files on over 700 organizations.

7. Epherema: Items such as buttons, banners and T-shirts.

Last year the US Health Activism History Collection was legally donated to the University of Pennsylvania’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library by the Institute of Social Medicine and Community Health. (the History Center’s parent organization). The transfer of the Collection from Dr. Lear’s beautiful pre-Victorian home to the University is being done in stages and will be completed in about a year.

Why is this history important to us today? At a time when the political class in the US has taken the goal of a proper national health care system off the agenda, it is important to remember that the struggle for this has a century long tradition. In addition much still needs to be done to eliminate elitism, racism and sexism in the health field. We can learn many lessons from past health activism and be inspired by those who have gone before us.

Dr. Lear shared with us a favorite quote from Antoinette Konikow, a Boston physician and birth control champion who – in 1943 at age 74 – told her communist party comrades at a rally: “I have always been a rebel and have led a life of struggle. But it has been a thrilling life. I will not see the time when you win. When you do, please lay the red flag on my grave.”

Dr. Lear has developed a list of 50 topics in the history of US health activism which he considers worthy of scholarly attention by students. This list, publications of the History Center and information about the US Health Left are available on request. He can be reached at: wjlear@critpath.org or 215-386-5327.

– Matt Anderson and Carolyn Chu