HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Salerno, D F Articles by Feitshans, I L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Salerno, D F Articles by Feitshans, I L Topic Collections JECH Gallery

Alice Hamilton, MD: gaining visibility for industrial medicine

¹ Pfizer Global Research and Development, Ann Arbor Laboratories, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
² Adjunct Faculty, Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Albany, NY, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Deborah F Salerno
2800 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA; deborah.salerno{at}pfizer.com

photo credit: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

First and foremost, Alice Hamilton was an expert on lead. Inside factory walls, she won respect—from labour and management—as an effective agent of change, appealing to morality rather than profit. A pioneer in industrial toxicology and an American social activist, Hamilton chaired the first state commission to survey occupational disease, and held the nation’s first university appointment in industrial medicine. She brought credibility to a field rife with industrial bias. Her struggles were coupled to a pragmatic nature, lending itself to incremental change.

"For me, the satisfaction is that things are better now, and I had some part of it."

In addition to authoritative work on the dangerous lead trades (for example, smelting, refining, painting, manufacturing), Hamilton conducted studies on mercury, carbon monoxide, rubber, and the munitions industries. In a span of 40 years, she authored over 80 scientific reports. Her pace slowed only in old age (she died at age 101). The US OSHAct was enacted three months after her death in 1970.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the insight and generous contributions of Allen F Davis, Vilma R Hunt, Anne Firor Scott, Barbara Sicherman, and Myron Wegman.

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Salerno, D F Articles by Feitshans, I L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Salerno, D F Articles by Feitshans, I L Topic Collections JECH Gallery