William Crawford Gorgas

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(October 3, 1854 – July 3, 1920) was a United States Army physician and 22nd

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

(1914–1918). He is best known for his work in Florida,

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

in abating the transmission of yellow fever and

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

by controlling the

mosquitoes Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

that carry these diseases, for which he used the discoveries made by the Cuban doctor

Carlos J. Finlay Carlos Juan Finlay (December 3, 1833 – August 20, 1915) was a Cuban epidemiologist recognized as a pioneer in the research of yellow fever, determining that it was transmitted through mosquitoes ''Aedes aegypti''. Biography Early life and ...

. At first, Finlay's strategy was greeted with considerable skepticism and opposition to such hygiene measures. However, the measures Gorgas put into practice as the head of the Panama Canal Zone Sanitation Commission saved thousands of lives and contributed to the success of the canal's construction. He was a

Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

and argued that adopting

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

's popular 'Single Tax' would be a way to bring about sanitary living conditions, especially for the poor.

Early life and education

Born in

Toulminville Toulminville is a neighborhood of Mobile, Alabama, United States. It began as a small settlement on the property of Harry Theophilus Toulmin, who served as Sheriff of Mobile County in the 1830s. During the American Civil War, Toulminville w ...

, Alabama, Gorgas was the first of six children of

Josiah Gorgas Josiah Gorgas (July 1, 1818 – May 15, 1883) was the head of the Confederate States of America Ordance Bureau in the American Civil War, responsible for procuring weapons and ammunition for the Confederate armies; he was a brigadier general at ...

and

Amelia Gayle Gorgas Amelia Gayle Gorgas (June 1, 1826 – January 3, 1913) was librarian and postmaster of the University of Alabama for 25 years until her retirement at the age of eighty in 1907. She expanded the library from 6,000 to 20,000 volumes. The primary lib ...

. His maternal grandparents were

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

John Gayle and

Sarah Ann Haynsworth Gayle Sarah Ann Haynsworth Gayle (, Haynsworth or Haynesworth; 1804–1835) was a 19th-century diarist of the American South, who kept a journal during the period of 1827 to 1835. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', "Her journal is unique as t ...

, the diarist. After studying at

The University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It ...

and

Bellevue Hospital Medical College The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU Gr ...

, Dr. Gorgas was appointed to the US Army

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

in June 1880.

Military career

He was assigned to three posts— Fort Clark,

Fort Duncan Fort Duncan was a United States Army base, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas. History A line of seven army posts was established in 1848–49 after the Mexican War to protec ...

, and

Fort Brown Fort Brown (originally Fort Texas) was a military post of the United States Army in Cameron County, Texas, during the latter half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Established in 1846, it was the first US Army military ...

—in Texas. He was sent to Fort Brown (1882–84) to take control of an epidemic of yellow fever. One of his patients was Marie Cook Doughty, who nearly died from the disease. In the course of caring for her, he contracted the disease himself. They both recovered together, and during the time of convalescence, fell in love, soon thereafter getting married. Having recovered from the disease, they both now had lifetime immunity and consequently were assigned to other yellow fever outbreaks. In 1898, after the end of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Gorgas was appointed Chief Sanitary Officer in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Robert Ernest Noble Robert E. Noble (November 5, 1870 – September 18, 1956) was an American physician and a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Philippine–American War, United States occupation of Veracruz, World War I, and the Occupation ...

worked to eradicate yellow fever and malaria. Gorgas capitalized on the momentous work of another Army doctor, Major

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 23, 1902) was a United States Army, U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito ...

, who had built much of his work on the insights of Cuban doctor,

Carlos Finlay Carlos Juan Finlay (December 3, 1833 – August 20, 1915) was a Cuban epidemiologist recognized as a pioneer in the research of yellow fever, determining that it was transmitted through mosquitoes ''Aedes aegypti''. Biography Early life and ...

, to prove the mosquito transmission of yellow fever. Through his efforts draining both the ''

Aedes aegypti ''Aedes aegypti'' ( or from Greek 'hateful' and from Latin, meaning 'of Egypt'), sometimes called the Egyptian mosquito, dengue mosquito or yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that spreads diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, malar ...

'' mosquito vector breeding ponds and quarantining of yellow fever patients in screened service rooms, cases in Havana plunged from 784 to zero within a year. As chief sanitary officer on the canal project, Gorgas implemented far-reaching sanitary programs, including the draining of ponds and swamps, fumigation, use of

mosquito net A mosquito net is a type of meshed curtain or cloth that is circumferentially draped over a bed or a sleeping area to offer the sleeper barrier protection against bites and stings from mosquitos, flies, and other pest insects, and thus a ...

ting, and construction of public water systems. These measures were instrumental in permitting the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

, as they significantly prevented illness due to yellow fever and malaria (which had also been shown to be transmitted by mosquitoes in 1898) among the thousands of workers involved in the building project. Gorgas served as president of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

in 1909–10. He was appointed as Surgeon General of the Army in 1914. That same year, Gorgas and

George Washington Goethals George Washington Goethals ( June 29, 1858 – January 21, 1928) was an American military officer and civil engineer, best known for his administration and supervision of the construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. He was the first Go ...

were awarded the inaugural

Public Welfare Medal The Public Welfare Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." It is the most prestigious honor conferred by the academy. First awar ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. Gorgas retired from the Army in 1918, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64.

Personal life

He was married to Marie Cook Doughty (1862–1929) of Cincinnati. He is buried with her at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

Death and legacy

* He received an

honorary knighthood In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award: *Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement a ...

(KCMG) from

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

at the

Queen Alexandra Military Hospital The Queen Alexandra Military Hospital (QAMH) opened in July 1905. It was constructed immediately to the north of the Tate Britain (across a side-street) adjacent to the River Thames on the borders of the neighbourhoods of Millbank and Pimlico, ...

in the United Kingdom shortly before his death there on July 3, 1920. He was given a special funeral in

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

* Gorgas' name features on the Frieze of the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...

. Twenty-three names of public health and tropical medicine pioneers were chosen to feature on the School building in Keppel Street when it was constructed in 1926. *

Gorgas, Alabama Gorgas is a settlement in Walker and Tuscaloosa counties, Alabama, United States. It is named, via a former school in the area, after William Crawford Gorgas. Geography Gorgas is located in northern Tuscaloosa and Walker counties. The boundaries ...

was named after him.

Awards and Honors

Military Awards

Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

Spanish Campaign Medal The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish ...

Army of Cuban Occupation Medal The Army of Cuban Occupation Medal was a military award created by the United States War Department in June 1915. The medal recognizes those service members who performed garrison occupation duty in the United States Protectorate over Cuba, foll ...

* Victory Medal

Other honors

* Elected member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

–

* Elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* Honorary Knight Commander of the

Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(KCMG) (United Kingdom)

Legacy

200px, Maj. Gen. William C. Gorgas, honored on Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone, Canal Zone Postage * The Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Tropical and Preventive Medicine, Incorporated (GMITP), which operated the Gorgas Laboratories in Panama, was founded in 1921 and was named after Dr. Gorgas. With the loss of congressional funding in 1990, the GMITP was closed. The institute was moved to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 1992 and carries on the tradition of research, service and training in

tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...

. The Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine is sponsored by the

University of Alabama School of Medicine The University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States with branch campuses in Huntsville, Montgomery, and ...

in conjunction with

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Cayetano Heredia University (, UPCH; or simply ''Cayetano Heredia'') is a private nonprofit university located in Lima, Peru. It was named in honor of Cayetano Heredia, one of the eminent Peruvian physicians of the 19th century. The universit ...

in Lima, Peru. *

Gorgas Hospital Gorgas Hospital was a U.S. Army hospital in Panama City, Panama, named for Army Surgeon General William C. Gorgas (18541920). Built on the site of an earlier (1882) French hospital called L'Hospital Notre Dame de Canal, it was originally (1904) ...

was a U.S. Army hospital in Panama, previously known as Ancon Hospital and named for Dr. Gorgas in 1928. Now held and operated by Panama, it is home to the Instituto Oncologico Nacional, Panama's Ministry of Health and its Supreme Court. * In 1947 the

Gorgas Science Foundation The Gorgas Science Foundation is a nonprofit foundation based in South Texas established to support conservation and education. The mission of Gorgas Science Foundation is to provide the highest quality educational opportunities, to foster great ...

was founded at

Texas Southmost College Texas Southmost College (TSC) is a public junior college located in Brownsville, Texas, United States. History Early history Texas Southmost College was established in 1926 under the name of The Junior College of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, ...

(on the site of the former Fort Brown). The foundation supports conservation and ecological science research projects worldwide. * The

Gorgas Medal The Gorgas Medal was originally established as an annual award in 1915 by the Medical Reserve Corps Association of New York in honor of Surgeon General William C. Gorgas, U.S. Army. The award was based on a writing competition open to members of th ...

is awarded by the

Association of Military Surgeons of the United States AMSUS, The Society of Federal Health Professionals, is a non-profit (501c3) professional association for all U.S. federal health professionals serving in the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Se ...

(AMSUS) * In 1953 William C. Gorgas was inducted into the

Alabama Hall of Fame The Alabama Hall of Fame was established by Act of Alabama No. 646 (1951) to recognize "worthy citizens of the state who rendered outstanding service or who won fame on account of their achievements as to make them exceptional in the history of Ala ...

. *

Library and Gorgas' parents' final home, the Gorgas House, located on the campus of The

, are named in honor of the Gorgas family. *

has a Gorgas Hall named in his honor. The college's campus is located on the grounds of the former

. * The

Alabama Power Company Alabama Power Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.4 million customers in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It also operates appliance stores. It is one ...

renamed its Warrior Reserve Steam Plant on the

Black Warrior River The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the ...

near Parrish in honor of Gorgas in the 1920s. Gorgas had testified on behalf of the utility during the previous decade in lawsuits over mosquito-borne illnesses in the vicinity of its Lay Dam hydroelectric reservoir. The coal-fired steam plant was closed in April 2019. * The German commercial

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

SS ''Prinz Sigismund'', after being seized by the United States after it entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, had a long American career under the name ''General W. C. Gorgas'' (named for Dr. Gorgas). It was owned by the

Panama Railroad Company The Panama Canal Railway (PCR, ) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near Panama City). Because of ...

and used for commercial service as SS ''General W. C. Gorgas'' from 1917 to 1919 and from 1919 to 1941, it was used as the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

troop transport Troop transport may be: * Troopship * Military Railway Service (United States) * Military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used ...

USS ''General W. C. Gorgas'' in 1919 after World War I, and as the U.S. Army Transport USAT ''General W. C. Gorgas'' from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. * Gorgas's Rice Rat (''Oryzomys gorgasi'') is a South American rodent named after Gorgas in 1971. * The Latin University of Panama (Universidad Latina de Panama) named their health sciences faculty in Gorgas's honor (Facultad de ciencias de la salud Dr. William C. Gorgas). * There is a Gorgas Avenue in the Presidio in San Francisco, California. *Gorgas Hall at Sewanee - The University of the South is named in his honor and was ranked the worst dorm at Sewanee in 2022 by College Jagua

* In 1984 the "Major General William C. Gorgas Clinic" was dedicated as part of the Mobile County Health Department, located at 251 North Bayou Street, Mobile, A

* Gorgas's papers are held at the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. * There is a Gorgas Road on

Fort Myer, Virginia Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whipple ...

References

* From the brochure "150 Year Celebration of the U.S. Marine Hospital/Mobile County Health Department" – December 15, 1993 – Bernard H. Eichold, II M.D., Dr. P.H., Health Officer

External links

Video: William Gorgas Biography on Health.mil
– The Military Health System provides a look at the life and work of William Gorgas. * The Gorgas Memorial Institute, University of Alabama *
The Gorgas Courses in Clinical Tropical Medicine
*
Gorgas Memorial Institute Research Award (ASTMH Website)

Gorgas Memorial Library
at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

The Gorgas TB Initiative

Gorgas Science Foundation Website

Mobile County Health Department – Maj. Gen. William C. Gorgas Clinic

William Crawford Gorgas papers, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorgas, William C. 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century United States Army personnel American tropical physicians Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Georgists Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Malariologists Members of the American Philosophical Society Military personnel from Mobile, Alabama Panama Canal Physicians from Alabama Presidents of the American Medical Association Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Sewanee: The University of the South alumni Surgeons general of the United States Army United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals United States Army Medical Corps officers Walter Reed