Warren Palmer Dearing Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 278

Abstract

Dates

Creation: 1943-1971

Extent

7.14 Linear Feet (17 MS boxes)

Creator

Dearing, Warren Palmer, 1905 - (Person)

Physical Location

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

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

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Biographical Note

Dr. Ward Dearing was born in Iowa in 1905 and raised in Omak, Washington. He received his BA with high honors from the State College of Washington in 1927, and received his M.D. cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1931. For the next three years, he served on the faculty of the Department of Preventive Medicine and the School of Public Health as Assistant in Epidemiology. In 1934, he joined the Public Health Service, including nine years as Deputy Surgeon General. He was also appointed Chief of the U.S. delegation to the 14th Pan American Sanitary Congress (1954), served as U.S. representative to the NATO Medical Committee, and named by President Lyndon Johnson to the Consumer Advisory Council (1965).

After leaving goverment service in 1961, he became a consultant to the Group Health Association. He retired in 1971 as the GHA's Executive Director.

Brief Chronology

1934-1941 Hospital Service and epidemiological studies on poliomyelitis and tuberculosis
1941-1944 Asst. and later Chief Medical Officer, Office of Civilian Defense; repsonsible for establishing a system of medical care for civilians injured or otherwise in need through enemy action
1944-1945 Chief, Health Personnel, U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, Mediterranean theater
1945-1946 Asst. Chief, Division of Public Health Methods; staff work on medical care studies and legislation, including President Truman's first social security health proposals
1946-1948 Chief, Division of Commissioned Officers, Public Health Service
1948-1957 Deputy Surgeon General with major activities in medical education, medical care planning and administration
1957-1961 Director of Health Services, Office of Civil and Defense Modilization; responsible for health manpower and other planning for limited or full military mobilization

Other affiliations

Member, Founders Group of the American Board of Preventive Medicine
Fellow, American Public Health Association
Former member, House of Delegates, American Medical Association
Member, Subcommittee on Medical Care, American Public Health Association
Member, American Society for Public Administration
Former member, Board of Directors, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness

Collection Summary

Correspondence, documents, reports, and printed matter. Papers on a variety of subjects relating to public health, health education, medical administration, federal health legislation, and civil defense.

Includes correspondence from Dean A. Clark, James M. Mackintosh, and David D. Rutstein.