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The history of vaccination in the United States dates to the colonial period, continuing a longer global tradition of using exposure to disease to protect people from contracting it. The practice of smallpox variolation – deliberate exposure to the disease to build immunity – originated in ancient times. Inoculation, variolation using a lancet or needle, was introduced in Europe in the early 1720s. Around the same time in the American colonies, Boston conducted the first mass inoculation in what would become the United States amidst a smallpox outbreak. West Africans had long practiced inoculation, and through their enslavement and transport to America, brought their knowledge to the colonies. Onesimus, one of these enslaved Africans, shared the technique with his owner, the influential minster Cotton Mather. A leader of the Puritan community in Boston, Mather publicized and promoted inoculation during this outbreak. Despite Mather’s influence within the community, many Bostonian clergymen opposed inoculation, arguing that the epidemic was divine punishment and thus should not be interfered with. The controversy was so great that opponents to inoculation threw explosives into the homes of Mather and Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, the surgeon pioneering inoculation. Attached to the bomb thrown into Mather’s house was a note: “Cotton Mather, You Dog, Dam[sic] you, I’ll inoculate you with this, with a Pox to you.”[1]  

While planning their invasion of the Philippines, the Imperial Japanese Army had decided how to administer control over the conquered islands. Among these plans was the conversion of Manila’s Santo Tomas University from Dominican academy to prison. Founded in 1611 by Dominicans and named after Saint Thomas Aquinas, Santo Tomas had stopped classes during the first week of the war. To create a sense of solitude from the busy city, the priests had surrounded the sixty-acre campus with a twelve-foot concrete and stone wall. Iron gates provided access to the school. Once Japan took the Philippines, however, the masonry and iron barrier transformed into prison walls. People of all ages and a myriad of nationalities– American, British, Australians, Canadians, Dutch, Polish, Norwegian, and French, to name a few – were held at Santo Tomas Internment Camp (STIC). Among these prisoners were Army and Navy nurses; putting their own well-being aside, these women went above and beyond the line of duty to care for their fellow prisoners.[1]  

To many American military nurses in the 1930s, the Philippines were a dream posting. A tropical paradise, American nurses spent their off hours enjoying the beautiful beaches and weather. This dream, however, turned into a nightmare in December 1941 when the Japanese invaded. To many of the nurses, including Ruby Bradley, a West Virginia native, what began as effectively a paid vacation became a fight to survive as prisoners of war held captive in Japanese camps.  

As the African American population increased in West Virginia, the need for medical care in the Black community intensified. The Mountain State’s Black population skyrocketed from roughly 18,000 in 1870 to nearly 118,000 by 1940. During the Jim Crow Era, West Virginia had more African American healthcare providers and hospitals than any other state in central and southern Appalachia. However, racial disparities in healthcare still existed, with Black West Virginians experiencing higher death and infection rates than White West Virginians. [1] 

Prior to 1898, there was no established medical facility in the Clarksburg, WV area. Care was provided by circuit riding doctors, family members and local midwives, company doctors in coal camps, and the few established physicians licensed after the 1881 licensure law was put into effect. To meet the need for medical care in Clarksburg, a group of physicians incorporated the Harrison County Hospital in 1900. The founding doctors of the Harrison County Hospital Group were Drs. D. P. Morgan, R. L. Morrison, Waldo Goff, Nelson Peck, Fleming Howell, Robert A. Haynes, T. M. Hood, J. W. Johnson, E. N. Flowers, and Edward Wehner. The original hospital building was constructed on Washington Ave, between Sixth and Chestnut Streets, and was operational by May 1902. Considered at that time to be a state-of-the-art facility, the 25-bed hospital had steam heat, electric lights, an elevator, and an ambulance service. [1] 

While several minor developments occurred between 1938 and 1962, the next significant milestone in drug regulation was in 1962. Once again, a tragedy caused by drugs motivated the American government to strengthen the FDA. Thalidomide, marketed as a sleeping pill and a treatment for morning sickness, had an unexpected side effect that resulted in the birth of thousands of malformed babies across Europe. Thankfully, FDA Medical Officer Frances Kelsey had blocked thalidomide from being sold on American markets. Kelsey’s decision to bar thalidomide garnered public support and interest for stronger drug regulation. Congress took advantage of the political momentum to pass the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments to the FD&C Act. This legislation required pharmaceutical companies to not only prove safety but also effectiveness of their medicine. Significantly, the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments were a foundation for extensive clinical trials of medicines, which, of course, is a cornerstone of modern pharmaceutical development. Throughout the 1960s, government contractors retroactively tested drugs approved between 1938 and 1962 to ensure their effectiveness as well as their safety, further reinforcing the emphasis that the FDA now placed on drug efficacy.[17] 

Chances are that every American has been prescribed medicine by a doctor, filled prescriptions at a pharmacy, or taken an over-the-counter medicine. On the labels of every drug are instructions for use, dosage, the strength of the drug, potential side effects and warnings, and other important information to safely take the medicine without harm. This information occurred after decades of American drug regulation. This regulation, ultimately, allows people to responsibly and safely take medicine and treat whatever ailments they might have, something that many in the modern day might take for granted.  

The year 1949 permanently changed American society. In mid-August, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon, ending the American atomic monopoly and significantly escalating the Cold War. While American officials expected that a nuclear Stalinist Russia was inevitable eventually, the USSR had done so far sooner than expected. The United States responded to this dramatic development by accelerating their own weapons program, testing the first hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb in 1951. As the arms race continued through the 1950s, both countries were forced to confront the potential realities of a sudden, devastating, nuclear war that could kill massive amounts of civilians and destroy whole cities. By the end of the decade, the United States, both on a national and federal level, had developed contingency plans for nuclear Armageddon. For those living and studying in the Morgantown area in the 1960s, the newly-built West Virginia University Hospital was central to the survival of many should the Cold War turn hot.  

When touring the William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences, visitors will see a Medal of Honor. This award commemorates the bravery and heroism of Corporal Thomas Bennett, a Morgantown native and West Virginia University Student. Despite his personal feelings towards the Vietnam War, Bennett served as a medic and sacrificed his life to care for wounded soldiers while under fire. 

Today, it is completely normal that all doctors have a comprehensive medical education, hold an advanced degree, have plenty of clinical experience, passed a licensing examination, and are deemed fit by their state medical boards to practice. However, in the late 1800s, the field of medicine was a chaotic and unregulated profession filled with quack doctors, frauds, and bogus medical schools that handed out degrees in exchange for a sum of money. How did medical practice turn into the orderly, professional, and respected field that healthcare is in the 21st century? West Virginians, most notably a man named James Reeves, contributed to these developments in medical practice by advocating for and enforcing a strict licensure law that ensured doctors were indeed qualified to take care of their patients.