Alice Hamilton
Personal Information
Born: 1869
Died: 1970
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Fort Wayne College of Medicine for 1 year before transferring to the University of Michigan Medical School 1893 MD
" "I meant to be a medical missionary to Teheran, having been fascinated by the description of Persia in [Edmond] O'Donovan's The Merv Oasis. I doubted if I could ever be good enough to be a real missionary, but if I could care for the sick, that would do instead." (Wikipedia); [Hull House] "satisfied every longing, for companionship, for the excitement of new experiences, for constant intellectual stimulation, and for the sense of being caught up in a big movement which enlisted my enthusiastic loyalty." (Wikipedia); "I chose medicine not because I was scientifically-minded, for I was deeply ignorant of science. I chose it because as a doctor I could go anywhere I pleased — to far-off lands or to city slums — and be quite sure I could be of use anywhere.” (acs.org); “I should never have taken up the cause of the working class had I not lived at Hull House.” (thepharmacologist.org); "
— Alice Hamilton
Professional Life
Field of Study: Industrial Medicine; toxicology;
Institution/Corporation: Hull House; Harvard University
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: University of Michigan; Mount Holyoke College; Smith College; Member: Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Mortality from Tuberculosis in Dusty Trades; League of Nations Health Committee (1924-1930); National Consumers League (President 1944-1949);
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1947 Albert Lasker Public Service Award (1st woman to receive award); 1935 National Achievement Award, Chi Omega Women's Fraternity' 1948 Donald E, cummings Memorial Awards, American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA); 1956 Woman of the Year in Medicine, Time Magazine; 1973 National Women's Hall of Fame; 1995 55-cent US Postage Stamp issue, USPS; 2002 she & her work were recognized as a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society; 1994 Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame; 1992 Safety & Health Hall Of Fame; 1997 Michigan women's Hall of Fame;
Achievements: expert in occupational health & industrial toxicity; identified over 70 industrial processes in which workers were exposed to lead poisoning; wrote Industrial Poisons in the US.; 1910 Illinois governor Charles S. Deneen appointed her as a medical investigator to the newly formed Illinois Commission on Occupational Diseases; authored the "Illinois Survey," the commission's report that documented its findings of industrial processes that exposed workers to lead poisoning and other illnesses; uncovered occupations, such as polishing cut glass and wrapping cigars in "tinfoil," that exhibited increased exposure to lead poisoning, contrary to the public's beliefs; her best-known research included her studies on carbon monoxide poisoning among American steelworkers, mercury poisoning of hatters, and a debilitating hand condition developed by workers using jackhammers; 1934 published "Industrial Toxicology;" 1924 to 1930, she served as the only woman member of the League of Nations Health Committee; after retiring from Harvard in 1935 she became a medical consultant to the U.S. Division of Labor Standards; published her autobiography, Exploring the Dangerous Trades, in 1943; studied the poisonous effects of aniline dyes, carbon monoxide, mercury, tetraethyl lead, radium (in wristwatch dials among other uses), benzene, the chemicals in storage batteries, and carbon disulfide and hydrogen sulfide gases created in the manufacture of viscose rayon; founded the Alice Hamilton Club for teenage girls and a hygiene and nursing program as well as a well-baby clinic at Hull House; published 15 federal government reports, 17 books and pamphlets, and 165 articles;
did her residency at Hull House in Chicago from 1897 to 1919
became a professor of pathology at the Woman's Medical School of Northwestern University in 1897
1919 became the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University
was a social-welfare reformer, humanitarian, and peace activist
is sometimes credited with leading to the founding of the United States' Occupational Safety and Health Administration
grew up in a privileged environment in Fort Wayne, Indiana
completed internships at the Northwestern Hospital for Women and Children in Minneapolis and at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Roxbury, MA
1895 traveled to Germany with her older sister Edith wherte she planned to study bacteriology & pathology but was met with a great deal of resistance because she was female & returned to the U.S. 1896 to study at Johns Hopkins Medical School for 1 year
Hull House was her full-time residence from 1897 to 1919
was Jane Addams' personal physician and volunteered her time at Hull House to teach English and art and also directed the men's fencing and athletic clubs, operated a well-baby clinic, and visited the sick in their homes
even after moving to Boston to teach at Harvard in 1919 she returned to Hull House and stayed for several months each spring until Jane Addams's death in 1935
her Illinois commission's efforts resulted in the passage of the first workers' compensation laws in Illinois in 1911, in Indiana in 1915, and occupational disease laws in other states
1925, at a Public Health Service conference on the use of lead in gasoline, she testified against the use of lead and warned of the danger it posed to people and the environment. but leaded gasoline was allowed & it wasn't until 1988 that the use of leaded gas was linked to the exposure of children to lead
pioneered occupational epidemiology and industrial hygiene & also created the specialized field of industrial medicine in the United States
during World War I, the US Army tasked her with solving a mysterious ailment striking workers at a munitions plant in New Jersey which she eventually linked to their contact with TNT so she recommended workers wear protective clothing to be removed and washed at the end of each shift, solving the problem
examples of the anti-female discrimination she faced at Harvard were her exclusion from social activities, she could not enter the Harvard Union, attend the Faculty Club, or receive a quota of football tickets, & she was not allowed to march in the university's commencement ceremonies as the male faculty members did
she & her siblings (3 sisters & 1 brother) were home schooled and completed her early education at a finishing school (Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut)
1924, she spent six weeks in the Soviet Union at the invitation of the Soviet Public Health Service, which asked her to survey what the country was doing in the field of industrial medicine
was never promoted at Harvard and during her teaching career held only a succession of three-year appointments
was forced into mandatory retirement at the age of 65
in her eighties and nineties took an active role in campaigning against McCarthyism and what she considered the excesses of American anti-communism
1963 at age 94 signed an open letter to President Kennedy asking for early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam
wrote more than 80 scientific reports in 40 years
caught the FBI's attention in 1942 by advocating for clemency for Morris Schappes, a former professor convicted of perjury &, although they monitored her activities & kept a file on her activities for years, they were never able to link her to the Communists & charges were never filed
is often referred to as the mother of US occupational medicine
University of Leipzig professors permitted her to attend lectures, as long as she remained “invisible” to the male students
when employed by the Department of Labor she received no salary but when each report was ready for publication, the government bought it at a negotiated price
known for her “shoe leather” epidemiology — wearing out the soles of her shoes from all the trips to factories, hospitals and even saloons to carry out research