James Payton Leake Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 335

Abstract

Contains correspondence, reprints, studies, talks and reports, and clippings documenting Dr. Leake's career in epidemiology.

Dates

Creation: 1909-1980

Extent

1.26 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Creator

Leake, James Payton, 1881-1973 (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

James Payton Leake, Jr. was born in Sedalia, Missouri in 1881. He was educated at St. Louis' Smith Academy and obtained his medical training at the Harvard School of Medicine in 1907. Leake joined the U.S. Public Health Service in 1909. By the mid-1910s, after assignment to the Hygienic Laboratory, he began researching smallpox. His work as an epidemiologist with the PHS focused primarily on smallpox and poliomyelitis. Dr. Leake developed a method of vaccination for smallpox and his guide "Questions and answers on smallpox and vaccination," was one of the most reprinted and distributed of all PHS publications. He also studied the possible harmful effects of tetraethyl lead in gasoline. He was a founding member of the American Epidemiological Society in 1926. He retired as Medical Director of the Public Health Service in 1945. Dr. Leake died in February 1973.

Collection Summary

Contains biographical information through clippings, photographs, certificates and awards, and an audiotape interview. Correspondence (1909-1967) is primarily related to PHS work but some personal letters are included. Smallpox, poliomyelitis and vaccination are some subjects of various talks and reports (1916-1967). A lengthy study on ultraviolet aeroirradiation (1944) and a collection of reprints, both by Dr. Leake and by others comprise the bulk of the rest of the collection.