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Dr. Theo George Wilson collection of Medical Committee for Human Rights material
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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The Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) was founded in 1964 "as a support group for civil rights workers in Mississippi," (Dittmer) and was made up of nearly one thousand volunteers who registered voters, worked in community centers, and taught in Freedom Schools. Physicians who founded the organization were largely active in left-wing organizations; but membership also included private practice physicians, medical educators, and public health workers. After their work during "Freedom Summer" in 1964, "the participating health professionals decided to make MCHR a permanent organization ... [in order to] continue to assist civil rights workers in Mississippi and other southern states, but shifted its focus to deal with health problems facing thousands of poor Blacks who lacked any medical services," (Dittmer).
In the late 1960s, as the civil rights movement waned, the MCHR re-focused their work. In addition to working for those with substandard health care, members of MCHR "opposed the Vietnam War, opened free clinics in inner cities (sometimes in cooperation with the Black Panthers), pressured medical schools to enroll more black students, and supported a woman's right to choose long before Roe v. Wade," (Dittmer). In 1968, MCHR volunteers attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and provided health services to protesters at the convention. During the early 1970s, volunteers, led by national chairman, Quentin Young, launched their National Health Plan, a proposal for a single class of healthcare for all Americans featuring equality between the different branches of medicine and consumer control of health care through government and community intervention. The MCHR was dissolved in 1980.
This collection's creator, Dr. Theo George Wilson earned a Ph. D. in biochemistry from the University of London Imperial College after World War II. He came to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship and conducted research at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University. He then completed medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. During his career he taught at Hunter College, Temple University, and Stanford University. He also spent time as the Medical Director at two Michigan hospitals, as Director of Medical Services at the Lafayette Psychiatric Clinic in Detroit, the Chief of Medical Policy for the State of California Health Services, and as the Chief Physician of the MediCal Program. Dr. Theo George Wilson served as a National Executive Director for the MCHR in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Dr. Quentin David Young (1923-2016), who features significantly in this collection, was a physician in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. He was a founder of MCHR and served as their national chair from 1967-1968 and again in 1970. He helped organize the creation of the Black Panthers and Young Lords health clinics, and, along with other MCHR doctors, provided medical care to protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He founded the Committee to End Discrimination in Chicago Medical Institutions in 1951, was the Chairman of Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago from 1972 to 1981, founded Health and Medicine Policy Research Group in 1980, was the President of American Public Health Association in 1988, and in 2009 was appointed to the chair of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board (Brown, et al).
Eli Messinger (d. 2018), who features significantly in this collection, graduated from Lafayette College in 1955 and Harvard Medical School in 1959. He then worked for 30 years in child and adolescent psychiatry at Metropolitan Hospital in New York. He was a chairman of MCHR in the early 70s. He was an advocate for anti-war, human rights, and revolutionary social change efforts.
Sources:
Brown, Theodore M et al. "Quentin Young (1923-2016): Advocate, Activist, and "Rebel Without a Pause"." American Journal of Public Health vol. 106,6 (2016): 1025-7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303219.
Dittmer, John. "The Medical Community for Human Rights," American Medical Journal of Ethics, Vol. 16, No. 9, pages 745-748. 2014 September.
The Dr. Theo George Wilson collection of Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) material measures 2.2 linear feet, dates from 1962-1973, and is composed of MCHR administrative papers, topics focused on by the organization, and writings about or by MCHR.
Series 1, Administration, consists of thirty-four folders relating to the internal running of MCHR. Materials include: pamphlets, minutes, and meeting information from various chapters; convention invitations, handouts, agendas, and minutes; governing council, agenda, minutes, proposals, and member list; budgets, mailers, position statements, and press releases.
Series 2, Topics, consists of thirty-seven folders relating to causes for which MCHR worked. Materials include: 1969 Chicago Riots response; Council of Health Organizations meeting notes; papers, articles, and mailers about the effects of mace; correspondence about the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health; and Occupational Health Project booklets.
Series 3, Writing, consists of eleven folders relating to writings by or about MCHR and correspondence to and from MCHR administrators. Materials include: correspondence to and from Dr. Theo George Wilson, Dr. Quentin David Young, and Eli Messinger; MCHR pamphlets and newsletters; and clippings related to public health and MCHR.
Gift of Dr. Theo George Wilson, 2024.
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- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Casper Voca
- Finding Aid Date
- 2024 September 10
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.