1910's Medicine and Health | "The Fight Against Venereal Disease"

Magazine article

By: Raymond B. Fosdick

Date: November 30, 1918

Source: Fosdick, Raymond B. "The Fight Against Venereal Disease." The New Republic, November 30, 1918, 132–133,134.

About the Author: Raymond Blaine Fosdick (1883–1972), a lawyer and social activist, served as chairman of the Commission on Training Camp Activities of the Army and Navy Departments during World War I. In this capacity, Fosdick fought to maintain high moral standards among the military recruits.

Introduction

Of all the various public health concerns, the subject of venereal disease, particularly syphilis, was the most difficult to bring up in public. For unlike other contagious diseases that were more or less randomly transmitted, syphilis carried the stigma of sin, for the disease was contracted by personal behavior and reflected poorly on the victim.

Nonetheless, by...