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Committee for the Nation's Health Records from the Michael M. Davis Collection, in the New York Academy of Medicine

 Collection
Identifier: MS Film 32

Abstract

Incorporated 1946 with Michael M. Davis, Ph.D., as chair of its Executive Committee, its purpose was to promote national health insurance. With the election of Eisenhower in 1952 it began to function as a health information office for organized labor. The committee was abolished in January, 1956.

Dates

  • Creation: 1939-1955 (bulk 1946-1955)

Extent

12 Microfilm Reels

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

Collection is restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Permission to cite, quote, publish, or reproduce any unpublished material in the CNH records should be sought from the New York Academy of Medicine.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Historical Note

The Committee for the Nation's Health (CNH) was incorporated on 23 February 1946 with Michael M. Davis as chairman of its Executive Committee. Davis was by the time of the organization of the CNH one of the major figures in health care policy in the United States. Born on 19 Nov. 1879 in New York, Davis received a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1906. First in Boston and later in New York, Davis led movements to extend dispensary services to people of moderate means. He then served as director of medical services for the Julius Rosenwald Fund and chaired the foundation-funded Committee on Research in Medical Economics before assuming leadership of the CNH.

The CNH's initial goal was to lobby for the support of national health insurance. As it was originally organized, the CNH had four major functions: providing technical information for sponsors of health legislation; preparing and distributing promotional literature; coordinating activities among other groups favoring national health insurance; and encouraging other groups to join in the campaign for national health insurance. Initially funding for the committee came from members of the Julius Rosenwald family and Albert and Mary Lasker. In 1949, however, disagreement arose within the CNH over whether the CNH should continue to concentrate its efforts on promoting national health insurance or, as the Laskers argued, instead should work to support less controversial aspects of the Truman administration's health program, such as increased federal funding for medical education and research. The Lasker position was eventually rejected by the CNH, at which point the Laskers and Rosenwalds withdrew their support for the organization. Organized labor then became the chief financial supporters of the committee, with some additional support from the Democratic National Committee.

With the election of Eisenhower in 1952 the prospects for national health insurance dimmed. As a consequence the CNH shifted its attention away from lobbying for health insurance and instead began to function as a health information office for organized labor. During the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, both organizations proposed to establish their own health information office. With their final function absorbed by the new union, the CNH was abolished in January, 1956.

Collection Summary

Minutes, memoranda, publications, correspondence, draft legislation, and other administrative records relating to the Committee's lobbying efforts on behalf of national health insurance during the Truman administration. Includes copies of many of Truman's speeches on health matters; material on the opposition of the National Physicians' Committee for the Extension of Medical Service and American Medical Association to national health insurance; and material on health legislation introduced by James Murray, Robert F. Wagner, and John Dingell. Most of the material was collected by the Committee for the Nation's Health; some of it derives from Michael M. Davis, in whose papers the records now reside.

Abstract

Incorporated 1946 with Michael M. Davis, Ph.D., as chair of its Executive Committee, its purpose was to promote national health insurance. With the election of Eisenhower in 1952 it began to function as a health information office for organized labor. The committee was abolished in January, 1956.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Custodial History

The records of the Committee for the Nation's Health comprise part of the "Organizations" section of the Library of Social and Economic Aspects of Medicine of Michael M. Davis held by the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). The index to the complete collection is available from the New York Academy of Medicine; a copy is also found in the donor file on the Davis collection in the History of Medicine Division. For more information about the materials in the Davis library, see Lee Ash, "The Michael M. Davis Collection of Social and Economic Aspects of Medicine," Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 43 (July 1967): 598-608.

The CNH records were microfilmed by the NYAM for the Harry S. Truman library for its collections in 1962; additional CNH material was filmed and added to the collection in 1972. In addition, the Truman library also filmed some material in the Davis papers related to the interests of the CNH but not filed with the CNH materials in the Davis collection at the NYAM. This supplementary material is found in series 2-4 (described below).

Provenance

A copy of the microfilm on deposit at the Harry S. Truman library was purchased by the National Library of Medicine from the Truman library and with the permission of the NYAM in 1989. Accession #585.

Related Material

Original materials can be found in the Michael M. Davis Collection at the New York Academy of Medicine, Committee for the Nation's Health Records.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff
Processing completed
1989
Encoded by
Dan Jenkins
Title
Finding Aid to the Committee for the Nation's Health Records from the Michael M. Davis Collection, in the New York Academy of Medicine1939-1955 (bulk 1946-1955)
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD Staff
Date
1989; 2000
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
Version 1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collections Collecting Area

Contact:
8600 Rockville Pike
Bldg 38/1E-21, MSC 3819
Bethesda MD 20894 US
1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656)