| KPHA, now with
over 600 members was founded by Dr. Samuel Crumbine, a great Kansan
who began the public health movement and is today recognized nationally!
Samuel J. Crumbine
A Kansas Portrait
Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine of Dodge City
was one of the nation's leaders in the field of public health. He
became secretary of the Kansas State Board of Health in 1904 and
served for approximately 20 years. His public health campaigns were
directed at practices and conditions that led to the spread of communicable
diseases. His campaign against houseflies urged screening windows
and doors and used the slogan, "Swat the Fly."
Other targets of his campaigns were
the common drinking cup or dipper and the exposed roller towel,
often used on railroad trains and in other public areas. His success
in this area was illustrated by the adoption of disposable paper
cups and towels. Crumbine also warned against misleading labels
on food and drugs.
One of Crumbine's best known campaigns
was associated with the slogan "Don't
Spit on the Sidewalk." He was concerned that the habit
spread disease. He was so convincing that brick manufacturers produced
bricks with this slogan imprinted on them. These bricks can occasionally
be found in the few brick sidewalks still remaining in the state.
These activities brought Crumbine an international reputation in
the field of public health.
Crumbine also tried his hand at writing,
authoring the Frontier Doctor, which described his medical practice
on the Kansas frontier in Dodge City.
Read
quotes from his book.
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