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L1BERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL Editorial Policy
Thlt Libmlln SrnJihlnun r lttlrtted h publcaci oforiginal search on social politi shycal econumlc a~lti6L ind otbtr i sues lhnu r Uhcriw or wifh unplications for Liberia Opinshyions of C(lnrnbULOr~ to the Journal do nor necessilnly I ellccr tlu policy of the organizations they ~I(~ lU ur aln Llherian Srudies Associarion publisher of rh Journal
Manuscript Requirements
~bJluscriprs 5ubmincd for publication should not exceed 25 (pewrirren double-spaced pages whh mugins of one-and a-half inches The page limit includes gruphs references cables and appmdices Amhon may in addition to rheir manuscrip[S suhmir a computer disk of thei r ~lrk preferably in MS Word 2000 or WordPerfect 61 for WinJc)ws Notes and references ~huuld be placed at me end of (he (en with headings egbull Norepound References Nores if any should precede rhe references The Journal is published in June and December Deadline for rhe firsr issue is February and for the second Augusr
Manuscriprs should include a cover page thar provides rhe ride of the rexr amhors name address phone number e-mailadd ress and affili arion Anonymous referees will review all works
Manuscriprs are accepted in English and French
Manuscripts musr conform ro rhe edilOrial style ofeither rhe Chicago Manual of Style or The American Psychological Associaion (APA) or Modern Language Associaion (MLA)
Amhors should send rheir manuscripts for considerarion by regular mail or e-mail attachmenrs to
Amos J Beyan Edior Liberian Srudies Journal
Friedmann Hall Deparrmenr of Hisrory Western Michigan University Kalamazoo Michigan 49008
E-mail amosbeyanWmichedu Phone 269-387-2664
All Book Reviews should be mailed to
Phyllis Belr-Beyan Associate EditOr Liberian Srudies Journal
CoUege of Education Teaching Learning amp Leadership 34 18 Sangren Hall
Wesrern Michigan University Kalamazoo Michigan 49008
t nuil phyilisbdrWmichedu Phone 269-387-3898
IIVOLUME XXX 2005 N umber 2
LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL Ediror
Amos J Beyan Western Michigan University
Associate Ediror Phyllis Beh-Beyan
Wesrern Michigan University
Book Review Ediror Tim Geysbeek
Grand Valley Stare University
EDITORlALADYlSORY BOARD
William C Allen Virginia Stare Universiry D Elwood Dunn Sewanee - The Universil) of chc Soum Jame N j Koie Sr Universiry of Liberia Alpha M Bah College of Charleston Warren dA2evedo Univcrsiry of Nevada Morna K Rogers Kpazolu Mcdi1 Enrerprises Chrisropher Clapham uncasrer Universiry Yekuriel Gershoni Tel Aviv Universiry T homas Hayden Sociel) of African Missions Lawrence Breiborde Knox College Svend E Holsoe Universiry of Delaware Romeo E Philips KaJamazoo College Coroann Okorodudu Rowan College of N J Henrique F Tokpa Cucri ngwn Uni versiry College
LlBERlAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Phyllis Belt-Beyan WeHern Michigan Universiry Pres idenr
Mary Moran Colgate University Secretary-Treasurer James Guseh North Carolina Scare Uuiversiry Parliamentarian
Yekurid GersJlOni Tel Aviv University Past President Timorhy A Rainey Johns Hopkins Un iversiry
Joseph Holloway California Srare Universiry-Northrjdge
FORM ER EDITORS AI-Hassan Comeh
Amos J Beyan C William Allen Edward J Riggane D Elwood DlInn
Svend Holsoe Jo Sulli van
The Editors and Adviso ry Board grate full y ackn ow ledge rhe con rrihurion of Diethet H Haenicke Institute for International and Areas Srudies he History Deparrment and rhe Deparcmem ofTeaching Learn ing and Leadership Wescern Michigan Univecsiry
CONTENTS
AN INDIGENOUS L1BERlANS QUEST FOR THE PRESIDENCY MOMOLU
MASSAQUOI AND TH E 1931 ELECTION
by Raymond J Smyke 1
TURNING BRAlN DRAlN INTO A BRAIN GAJN
by Sakui W G Malakpa 29
LIBERIA AND CONTAlNM ENT POLICY AGAINST COLONIAL TAKE-OVER
PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION REFORM 1912- 1953
by Adell Patron 40
RECONSTRUCTING LIBERIAN POLITICAL CULTURE TENTATIVE
SUGGESTIONS
by John C Yoder 66
PEACEKEEPING IN LIBERIA ECOMOG AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ORDER
by C harles W Harrwig 94
BOOK REVIEWS
Swaye r Amos Beyond Plunder Toward Deomocrflric Goverrmce in Liberia
by Mary H Moran 106
Clegg 1lI Claude A The Price ofLiberry Aftica Americam and the Making ofLiberia
by Mitch Kachlln 109
A refereed journal thar emphasizes rhe social sciences humani(ies and rhe narural sciences (he Libaian Studies JournaL is a semiannual publication devored to srudies on Mricas oldesr RepubshyJic The annual subscriprion rare is U5$4000 US$1500 for srudems and US$5000 for insrishyrurians It includes membership in rhe Liberian Studies Associarion Inc AU manuscripts and [dared marters should be addressed co Dr Amos J Beyan Ediror Liberian Studies JournaL Friedmann Hall Department of Histo ry WesTern Michigan Un iversi ry Kalamazoo Michigan 49008 Subscriprions and other business mauers should be direcred [0 Dr Mary Moran Secreshytary-Treasurer Liberian Studies Associarion Inc Deparrmenr of Sociology and Anrhropology Colgare University 13 Oak Dri ve Hamilron New Yo rk 13346- 1398 E-mail mmoranmai1colgareedu
Copyrigh t copy 2005 by the Liherian Studies Associarion [SSN 0024 1989
Sanbwulo Wilton Sundown at Dawn A Librrian Odyssey
by Roben H Brown 111
NEW STUDI ES ON OR RELEVANT TO LIBERlAN STUDIES 118
D OCUMENTS 130
40
Liberia and Containment Policy Against Colonial Take-Over Public Health and
Sanitation Reform 1912-1953
Adell Patton
The independent Repnblic of Liberia was surrounded by colonial governments in West Africa by 1900 In the colonial te rritories the European populati on had grown In numbers Because of rhe Germ T heory of Disease of 1880 it beca me known that bacteria spread disease and the use of quinine had slowed the m orbidi ty and m ortal ity rates of Europeans from malaria and improved their health co ndi tions in the region Colomallsm however created new urbanization dusters and modern new disease environments By bringing African people together from diffe rent disease environshy~ents for the ~rs( rjrne colonial u ansportation systems allowed for the unprecedented difuslOn of dISeases s uch as yellow fever tuberculosis influenza plague syphilis cerebtospmal menmgms trypanosomiasis schistosomiasis malaria and ocher infecshycions 2 In order co control the spread of these diseases co lonial governments develshyoped medICat departments prevemive and curative medicine programs pipe-bourne water sUpplles sewerage refuse collection hill sration segregated housing and enaned quara~unes on the occasions of epidemics Even though Liberia was founded as an Amer~can prorege and remained un offi cially as an American protectorate adjacenr colomal regimes had claImed some of Liberian territOry and had created some of the indigeno us peop le within the republic as independents Both Francophon e and Anglophone governmc nts were constant threa ts to rhe governing Americo-Liberians who rema ined vigilant and protective about their sovereignty3
This Liberian mind-set was of long standing It had been inherited from the intershysections between slavery and racism in the US and in the African American setder di sposal to Liberia Standing pasr US histo riography on its head the descendants of the America-Liberias had come not through benevolent means from the US but through their non-benevolent flighr from slavery and racis m The American Colonishyzation Society of Free People of Color of the United States (ACS) sponso red the fteed Af[Jcan-Amencan seeders known here as the second Liberians and mulano-domishynated through the process of disposal from the US to assuage Southern slave owners Colonizarion ro Liberia was an alternacive to the trauma thar integration wonld bring
Dr Pa~~n is a le~ding Wes( Africanist lnd African Americani~( He is the amhor of Physicians Cololllahsm R~C1sm and oiaspora in vesr Afi-ica (Universiry Press o fFJorida 1996) and many o(her sch~lorly publlcanons He IS an AssocJate Profesmr of History ar University of Miswuri Saint Louts
Liberian 5wdies Journa l XXX 2 (200S)
4 1 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
in Amcrica This traumatic odyssey was transmitted through oral uadition and in Tirren histo ry from generation to generation in Liberia well into the twentieth censhy[Un The founders had no interest in the reproduction of a society based on the unique racial divide and slavery left behind in the Uni ted States nor in their minds to allow the imposirion of a colonial bifurcated state rhat a developed samtatlon system
might bring for certain Hence they imposed preventabl~ ~easures of an exdu~ve na[llre ro slow the importation of racist ideas and settler soo enes from the WesL FIrst provisions in the Liberian ConstitUrion prohibite Euro-~erica~ls or Euro~eans f~~m owing land And Arricle V M iscellaneous proVISIOns Sect10n 12 and Sectio n 13 of [he Constitution of the Republic of Liberia July 26 1847 and amended through 1955 prohibited the righr of persons to hold private property unless they were of Ulack Liberian descent and citizens of rhe nation Second altho ugh a republic sl11ce 1847 and unlike rhe colonial bifurcated states Monrovia the capito l remained a mere hamlet of less rhan 5000 of America-Liberians and without portS transportashycion system electriciry roads and pipe-bourne running water The rest resided ~ n rhe coastal regions of Bassa Sinoe and at Harper adjacent (0 the lory Co~s ( Two l11tenshyrions of these settlements were the control of custom duties of mrernatIOnal trade and defense against French partition Third the Liberian govern ment provided inadequare support to public health and allowed the rhreat of epIdemICS to fester 1fl order to sta ll rhe presumprion of European rake-Over Some sixty yes after ItS colOnial nel~hshybors Liberja waired until colonial take-over was no longer a threar and laId Its hr~ t pipe-borne water system in urban Monrovia in 1953 The central thesis of this paper IS thar the Liberian government intentional ly feigned attempts of coo peration with the Wesc (0 develop sanitation measures in order ro main rain an image of rhe nation as
undesi rable ro white settlemenr from 1912-1953 Firesrone Rubber and Tyre Company was the major fo reign company in Liberia
during the early 1900s and placed health needs flrsr Tropical expertise in medic ine was indispensable for an alien work force and Tulane UnIversr ty and Harvard Umvershysity were the only twO tropical disease centers in the United Srares In 1926 Fltestone donated $20000 to Harvard University in a medical and bIOlogICal survey expedmon ro Liberia The one physic ian and seven scientistS were expens in tropical medicine and conducted the most rhorough medical and social histo ry of Liberia The H arvard University Expedition conducted investigative efforts into the Liberian incerior which bad received scant acrention up to this time The region lacked both a doctor and pharmacy with Western medicine The Expedition omtted however the fact that rhs was the zone of the indigenous docrors known as he Zoos surrounded wlrh r~e lo~ashycion of some forty-six medicinal planes used for medical treatment of che lnte~l~r people Soko Sacko (1864-1969) who had srudied in C6te dIvoire and became a CIVIC minded patriot was the most known herbalisr eye docror ar Zorzor he larer served as a liaison between the Liberia Fronrier Force and the towns people and further became
8 rhe first paramount Chief of the Mandingo people ar San niquellie The Expedirion
42 43
ADELL PATTON
however provided ad ditional commen ts on rhe Status of sanitarion in Liberia and health personnel thar dovetailed with lacer public heaJeh findings There is among th LIberian people no health otganization of any SOrt anywhere in the cou ntry no public health laboratory of any desctiption and no adequately trained sanitarian or physi Clan The government had selected a two-storied house formerly used as a res idence in Monrovia as a hospiral while we were rhere and had placed in it a few beds several of which were occupied by patiems in charge of a poorly qualified Liberian physician and ~urse 9 Dr David W Payne of the Bassa echnic group was the physician in reference III the report He was the first Liberian trained dacror of the twentie th centu ry and
entered Meharry Medical School in 190 I and may have graduated in 1904 0 He actllshyally never practiced medicine because the government made him Secretary of Educashytion In 1927 Flfestone donaced $5000 to the Harvard School ofTtopical Medicine for an in-depth analysis of a preventive serum for yellow fever Another $5000 was given to Dr George Schwab of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to reconstruct an ethnography of rhe Liberian peoples Shortly afrer the Harvard Expedition departed in 1927 the Liberian government established a hospital in the German cable station at Monrovia and the Lurherans had a hospital at Muhlenburg fourteen miles North of MolltoviaPresidem C D B King (1920-1 930) of the True Whig Parry began the first organIzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for rhe rrearmem of rhe indigent sick
Firestone expanded its infrastrucrure [hat improved healrh conditions around its plantations between 1926- 1933 Developmenr required laborers and heal th care Fitestone expended $275 000 in the construction and maintenance of 125 miles of roads around its rubber plantat ions and gave rhe government $63000 to improved irs road system A public radio service was built at the cost of $30000 to provide comshymunications that linked Liberia [he Un ired States and other countries Even more a trade school and farm were established for the indigeno us costing $ 10000 and a German philologists was retained to write an orthography of the Kpelle language for the first Ume In 1933 FIrestone built a hospital at the cOst of $56000 with an addi shytional $200000 expenditure Health care was made available for thousands of Liberians workers and even some curious Zoos or herbalist doctors came for treatmen t II White Ameri c-ul physicians were in charge of the Firestone medical establishment Dr Paul Willis (MD) was the fi rst Medical Direcror fot the Company and in
lime had to return to America due ro ill health Dr JUStuS B Rice (MD) succeeded Willis he had two assisranrs to help him take ca re of Firestone em ployees D r W O Wehrle a German doctor and medical practitionet from Tanganyika wirh the German forces in 19 14 came to Liberia in 1924 and hired by Firestone in 1934 hence he may have been one of Rices assistants Wehrle however served as local leader of the local Nazi group in Mon rovia 12 Hence Wehrles presence in Liberia added a new dimenshysion to racist clinical pracrice and segregati on at Firestone in his observations of Liberians especially in his discussions wirn Western legarions abour Liberians inferior
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLlCY
and comparative cognitive intelligence levels in hospitals clinics an~ sund ry Liberia was now laden with multiple theories and practices about the anomalies of race on the
Adantic coastal littoral 13
The interplay of th e unhealthy image of Liberia on both sides of rhe Atlantic began between 1912 and 1929 Rising anti-white sentiments among Amenco-Llbwans became the raison d(erre in borh years for resistance to sanitar ion reform Members of dIe Western diplomatic corps had increased in Monrovia and withour immunities to African diseases It was not uncil the 1929 Yellow Fever epidemic that legatees from rhe Wesr demanded sani tat ion refo rm Knowl edge of the disease reached the medical esrablishmenr as early as 21 January 1929 But the Republic Sfalled and tactically delayed saniration development In Febtuary 1929 eight dearhs were reported fcom )ell~w fever and wi th the exceprion of one American N~ltgro child whos family had moved to Liberia from St Lo Uts M1SSOUfl and another Amencan Negro male rhey wete all Liberians The Libetian government had effectively kept its silence on the disease until this time M E Vinson a whi te American and Miss Amanda PhIllips a Liberian both employed by Firesrone Rubbet and Tyre Company concacted the dIS ease Vluso n is said to be the first white man to reCover form yellow fever III Llbefl~ butthecondition of Phillips remained unknown Miss Maryland B Nichols an Amenshycan missionary ar Bassa Liberia died from symproms suggestive of yellow fever Mss Lncile Todd a Colored from America who worked in the government hospital con tacted (he disease but recovered Ironically these symp toms and morralltJes occurred without serum in me country for prevention ile no vi tal statistics were kept by the government in 1929 Dr Justus B Rice Chief of the Medical Staff of Firestone Plantation Company estimated the deaths at twenry-five fro m yellow fever that also included an Indian shopkeeper Befo re the 110 doses of ser um agalilst yellow fever did arrive from the School of Tropical Mediciue-London on a fast boat around
Ma the Elder Dempster Steamship Line at Monrovia reported that tie co lonialy M 5terrimry of Freetown Sierra Leone had declared a quarantine a~ainst onrovla l~ March because of yellow fever On 7 March Sdg T Elwood DaVIS Dlreccor of Samshymtion fot the Liberian government final ly distri buted posters warmng cHlzens to make their premises conform to the new sanirary regulations (Figure I on next page)
Mr William T Francis an African American diplomat from Mlllnesota 10 Llbefla from 1927-1 929 and who had been forwarding dispatches co the US State Departshyment abou t the epidemic died himselffrom yellow feve r in 1929 Francis was funeralizcd in Sr Paul and buried in Nashville Tennessee Foreign diplomats complamed conshystantly about their sufferings from the poor health condi tions of Monrovia
T he yellow fever crisis of 1929 was a major concern on both Sides oftheArlanoc
that inspired consultation between the US and Liberian governments Expatflates sufshyfered illnesses and deaths but rhe effects on the Liberian nation as a whole remallled marginal The Liberian government accepted the offer of rhe United States Puhlic Healdl Service (USPHS) in 1930 to conducr au eighteen month survey of sanilatJon
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
CONTENTS
AN INDIGENOUS L1BERlANS QUEST FOR THE PRESIDENCY MOMOLU
MASSAQUOI AND TH E 1931 ELECTION
by Raymond J Smyke 1
TURNING BRAlN DRAlN INTO A BRAIN GAJN
by Sakui W G Malakpa 29
LIBERIA AND CONTAlNM ENT POLICY AGAINST COLONIAL TAKE-OVER
PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION REFORM 1912- 1953
by Adell Patron 40
RECONSTRUCTING LIBERIAN POLITICAL CULTURE TENTATIVE
SUGGESTIONS
by John C Yoder 66
PEACEKEEPING IN LIBERIA ECOMOG AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ORDER
by C harles W Harrwig 94
BOOK REVIEWS
Swaye r Amos Beyond Plunder Toward Deomocrflric Goverrmce in Liberia
by Mary H Moran 106
Clegg 1lI Claude A The Price ofLiberry Aftica Americam and the Making ofLiberia
by Mitch Kachlln 109
A refereed journal thar emphasizes rhe social sciences humani(ies and rhe narural sciences (he Libaian Studies JournaL is a semiannual publication devored to srudies on Mricas oldesr RepubshyJic The annual subscriprion rare is U5$4000 US$1500 for srudems and US$5000 for insrishyrurians It includes membership in rhe Liberian Studies Associarion Inc AU manuscripts and [dared marters should be addressed co Dr Amos J Beyan Ediror Liberian Studies JournaL Friedmann Hall Department of Histo ry WesTern Michigan Un iversi ry Kalamazoo Michigan 49008 Subscriprions and other business mauers should be direcred [0 Dr Mary Moran Secreshytary-Treasurer Liberian Studies Associarion Inc Deparrmenr of Sociology and Anrhropology Colgare University 13 Oak Dri ve Hamilron New Yo rk 13346- 1398 E-mail mmoranmai1colgareedu
Copyrigh t copy 2005 by the Liherian Studies Associarion [SSN 0024 1989
Sanbwulo Wilton Sundown at Dawn A Librrian Odyssey
by Roben H Brown 111
NEW STUDI ES ON OR RELEVANT TO LIBERlAN STUDIES 118
D OCUMENTS 130
40
Liberia and Containment Policy Against Colonial Take-Over Public Health and
Sanitation Reform 1912-1953
Adell Patton
The independent Repnblic of Liberia was surrounded by colonial governments in West Africa by 1900 In the colonial te rritories the European populati on had grown In numbers Because of rhe Germ T heory of Disease of 1880 it beca me known that bacteria spread disease and the use of quinine had slowed the m orbidi ty and m ortal ity rates of Europeans from malaria and improved their health co ndi tions in the region Colomallsm however created new urbanization dusters and modern new disease environments By bringing African people together from diffe rent disease environshy~ents for the ~rs( rjrne colonial u ansportation systems allowed for the unprecedented difuslOn of dISeases s uch as yellow fever tuberculosis influenza plague syphilis cerebtospmal menmgms trypanosomiasis schistosomiasis malaria and ocher infecshycions 2 In order co control the spread of these diseases co lonial governments develshyoped medICat departments prevemive and curative medicine programs pipe-bourne water sUpplles sewerage refuse collection hill sration segregated housing and enaned quara~unes on the occasions of epidemics Even though Liberia was founded as an Amer~can prorege and remained un offi cially as an American protectorate adjacenr colomal regimes had claImed some of Liberian territOry and had created some of the indigeno us peop le within the republic as independents Both Francophon e and Anglophone governmc nts were constant threa ts to rhe governing Americo-Liberians who rema ined vigilant and protective about their sovereignty3
This Liberian mind-set was of long standing It had been inherited from the intershysections between slavery and racism in the US and in the African American setder di sposal to Liberia Standing pasr US histo riography on its head the descendants of the America-Liberias had come not through benevolent means from the US but through their non-benevolent flighr from slavery and racis m The American Colonishyzation Society of Free People of Color of the United States (ACS) sponso red the fteed Af[Jcan-Amencan seeders known here as the second Liberians and mulano-domishynated through the process of disposal from the US to assuage Southern slave owners Colonizarion ro Liberia was an alternacive to the trauma thar integration wonld bring
Dr Pa~~n is a le~ding Wes( Africanist lnd African Americani~( He is the amhor of Physicians Cololllahsm R~C1sm and oiaspora in vesr Afi-ica (Universiry Press o fFJorida 1996) and many o(her sch~lorly publlcanons He IS an AssocJate Profesmr of History ar University of Miswuri Saint Louts
Liberian 5wdies Journa l XXX 2 (200S)
4 1 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
in Amcrica This traumatic odyssey was transmitted through oral uadition and in Tirren histo ry from generation to generation in Liberia well into the twentieth censhy[Un The founders had no interest in the reproduction of a society based on the unique racial divide and slavery left behind in the Uni ted States nor in their minds to allow the imposirion of a colonial bifurcated state rhat a developed samtatlon system
might bring for certain Hence they imposed preventabl~ ~easures of an exdu~ve na[llre ro slow the importation of racist ideas and settler soo enes from the WesL FIrst provisions in the Liberian ConstitUrion prohibite Euro-~erica~ls or Euro~eans f~~m owing land And Arricle V M iscellaneous proVISIOns Sect10n 12 and Sectio n 13 of [he Constitution of the Republic of Liberia July 26 1847 and amended through 1955 prohibited the righr of persons to hold private property unless they were of Ulack Liberian descent and citizens of rhe nation Second altho ugh a republic sl11ce 1847 and unlike rhe colonial bifurcated states Monrovia the capito l remained a mere hamlet of less rhan 5000 of America-Liberians and without portS transportashycion system electriciry roads and pipe-bourne running water The rest resided ~ n rhe coastal regions of Bassa Sinoe and at Harper adjacent (0 the lory Co~s ( Two l11tenshyrions of these settlements were the control of custom duties of mrernatIOnal trade and defense against French partition Third the Liberian govern ment provided inadequare support to public health and allowed the rhreat of epIdemICS to fester 1fl order to sta ll rhe presumprion of European rake-Over Some sixty yes after ItS colOnial nel~hshybors Liberja waired until colonial take-over was no longer a threar and laId Its hr~ t pipe-borne water system in urban Monrovia in 1953 The central thesis of this paper IS thar the Liberian government intentional ly feigned attempts of coo peration with the Wesc (0 develop sanitation measures in order ro main rain an image of rhe nation as
undesi rable ro white settlemenr from 1912-1953 Firesrone Rubber and Tyre Company was the major fo reign company in Liberia
during the early 1900s and placed health needs flrsr Tropical expertise in medic ine was indispensable for an alien work force and Tulane UnIversr ty and Harvard Umvershysity were the only twO tropical disease centers in the United Srares In 1926 Fltestone donated $20000 to Harvard University in a medical and bIOlogICal survey expedmon ro Liberia The one physic ian and seven scientistS were expens in tropical medicine and conducted the most rhorough medical and social histo ry of Liberia The H arvard University Expedition conducted investigative efforts into the Liberian incerior which bad received scant acrention up to this time The region lacked both a doctor and pharmacy with Western medicine The Expedition omtted however the fact that rhs was the zone of the indigenous docrors known as he Zoos surrounded wlrh r~e lo~ashycion of some forty-six medicinal planes used for medical treatment of che lnte~l~r people Soko Sacko (1864-1969) who had srudied in C6te dIvoire and became a CIVIC minded patriot was the most known herbalisr eye docror ar Zorzor he larer served as a liaison between the Liberia Fronrier Force and the towns people and further became
8 rhe first paramount Chief of the Mandingo people ar San niquellie The Expedirion
42 43
ADELL PATTON
however provided ad ditional commen ts on rhe Status of sanitarion in Liberia and health personnel thar dovetailed with lacer public heaJeh findings There is among th LIberian people no health otganization of any SOrt anywhere in the cou ntry no public health laboratory of any desctiption and no adequately trained sanitarian or physi Clan The government had selected a two-storied house formerly used as a res idence in Monrovia as a hospiral while we were rhere and had placed in it a few beds several of which were occupied by patiems in charge of a poorly qualified Liberian physician and ~urse 9 Dr David W Payne of the Bassa echnic group was the physician in reference III the report He was the first Liberian trained dacror of the twentie th centu ry and
entered Meharry Medical School in 190 I and may have graduated in 1904 0 He actllshyally never practiced medicine because the government made him Secretary of Educashytion In 1927 Flfestone donaced $5000 to the Harvard School ofTtopical Medicine for an in-depth analysis of a preventive serum for yellow fever Another $5000 was given to Dr George Schwab of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to reconstruct an ethnography of rhe Liberian peoples Shortly afrer the Harvard Expedition departed in 1927 the Liberian government established a hospital in the German cable station at Monrovia and the Lurherans had a hospital at Muhlenburg fourteen miles North of MolltoviaPresidem C D B King (1920-1 930) of the True Whig Parry began the first organIzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for rhe rrearmem of rhe indigent sick
Firestone expanded its infrastrucrure [hat improved healrh conditions around its plantations between 1926- 1933 Developmenr required laborers and heal th care Fitestone expended $275 000 in the construction and maintenance of 125 miles of roads around its rubber plantat ions and gave rhe government $63000 to improved irs road system A public radio service was built at the cost of $30000 to provide comshymunications that linked Liberia [he Un ired States and other countries Even more a trade school and farm were established for the indigeno us costing $ 10000 and a German philologists was retained to write an orthography of the Kpelle language for the first Ume In 1933 FIrestone built a hospital at the cOst of $56000 with an addi shytional $200000 expenditure Health care was made available for thousands of Liberians workers and even some curious Zoos or herbalist doctors came for treatmen t II White Ameri c-ul physicians were in charge of the Firestone medical establishment Dr Paul Willis (MD) was the fi rst Medical Direcror fot the Company and in
lime had to return to America due ro ill health Dr JUStuS B Rice (MD) succeeded Willis he had two assisranrs to help him take ca re of Firestone em ployees D r W O Wehrle a German doctor and medical practitionet from Tanganyika wirh the German forces in 19 14 came to Liberia in 1924 and hired by Firestone in 1934 hence he may have been one of Rices assistants Wehrle however served as local leader of the local Nazi group in Mon rovia 12 Hence Wehrles presence in Liberia added a new dimenshysion to racist clinical pracrice and segregati on at Firestone in his observations of Liberians especially in his discussions wirn Western legarions abour Liberians inferior
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLlCY
and comparative cognitive intelligence levels in hospitals clinics an~ sund ry Liberia was now laden with multiple theories and practices about the anomalies of race on the
Adantic coastal littoral 13
The interplay of th e unhealthy image of Liberia on both sides of rhe Atlantic began between 1912 and 1929 Rising anti-white sentiments among Amenco-Llbwans became the raison d(erre in borh years for resistance to sanitar ion reform Members of dIe Western diplomatic corps had increased in Monrovia and withour immunities to African diseases It was not uncil the 1929 Yellow Fever epidemic that legatees from rhe Wesr demanded sani tat ion refo rm Knowl edge of the disease reached the medical esrablishmenr as early as 21 January 1929 But the Republic Sfalled and tactically delayed saniration development In Febtuary 1929 eight dearhs were reported fcom )ell~w fever and wi th the exceprion of one American N~ltgro child whos family had moved to Liberia from St Lo Uts M1SSOUfl and another Amencan Negro male rhey wete all Liberians The Libetian government had effectively kept its silence on the disease until this time M E Vinson a whi te American and Miss Amanda PhIllips a Liberian both employed by Firesrone Rubbet and Tyre Company concacted the dIS ease Vluso n is said to be the first white man to reCover form yellow fever III Llbefl~ butthecondition of Phillips remained unknown Miss Maryland B Nichols an Amenshycan missionary ar Bassa Liberia died from symproms suggestive of yellow fever Mss Lncile Todd a Colored from America who worked in the government hospital con tacted (he disease but recovered Ironically these symp toms and morralltJes occurred without serum in me country for prevention ile no vi tal statistics were kept by the government in 1929 Dr Justus B Rice Chief of the Medical Staff of Firestone Plantation Company estimated the deaths at twenry-five fro m yellow fever that also included an Indian shopkeeper Befo re the 110 doses of ser um agalilst yellow fever did arrive from the School of Tropical Mediciue-London on a fast boat around
Ma the Elder Dempster Steamship Line at Monrovia reported that tie co lonialy M 5terrimry of Freetown Sierra Leone had declared a quarantine a~ainst onrovla l~ March because of yellow fever On 7 March Sdg T Elwood DaVIS Dlreccor of Samshymtion fot the Liberian government final ly distri buted posters warmng cHlzens to make their premises conform to the new sanirary regulations (Figure I on next page)
Mr William T Francis an African American diplomat from Mlllnesota 10 Llbefla from 1927-1 929 and who had been forwarding dispatches co the US State Departshyment abou t the epidemic died himselffrom yellow feve r in 1929 Francis was funeralizcd in Sr Paul and buried in Nashville Tennessee Foreign diplomats complamed conshystantly about their sufferings from the poor health condi tions of Monrovia
T he yellow fever crisis of 1929 was a major concern on both Sides oftheArlanoc
that inspired consultation between the US and Liberian governments Expatflates sufshyfered illnesses and deaths but rhe effects on the Liberian nation as a whole remallled marginal The Liberian government accepted the offer of rhe United States Puhlic Healdl Service (USPHS) in 1930 to conducr au eighteen month survey of sanilatJon
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
Sanbwulo Wilton Sundown at Dawn A Librrian Odyssey
by Roben H Brown 111
NEW STUDI ES ON OR RELEVANT TO LIBERlAN STUDIES 118
D OCUMENTS 130
40
Liberia and Containment Policy Against Colonial Take-Over Public Health and
Sanitation Reform 1912-1953
Adell Patton
The independent Repnblic of Liberia was surrounded by colonial governments in West Africa by 1900 In the colonial te rritories the European populati on had grown In numbers Because of rhe Germ T heory of Disease of 1880 it beca me known that bacteria spread disease and the use of quinine had slowed the m orbidi ty and m ortal ity rates of Europeans from malaria and improved their health co ndi tions in the region Colomallsm however created new urbanization dusters and modern new disease environments By bringing African people together from diffe rent disease environshy~ents for the ~rs( rjrne colonial u ansportation systems allowed for the unprecedented difuslOn of dISeases s uch as yellow fever tuberculosis influenza plague syphilis cerebtospmal menmgms trypanosomiasis schistosomiasis malaria and ocher infecshycions 2 In order co control the spread of these diseases co lonial governments develshyoped medICat departments prevemive and curative medicine programs pipe-bourne water sUpplles sewerage refuse collection hill sration segregated housing and enaned quara~unes on the occasions of epidemics Even though Liberia was founded as an Amer~can prorege and remained un offi cially as an American protectorate adjacenr colomal regimes had claImed some of Liberian territOry and had created some of the indigeno us peop le within the republic as independents Both Francophon e and Anglophone governmc nts were constant threa ts to rhe governing Americo-Liberians who rema ined vigilant and protective about their sovereignty3
This Liberian mind-set was of long standing It had been inherited from the intershysections between slavery and racism in the US and in the African American setder di sposal to Liberia Standing pasr US histo riography on its head the descendants of the America-Liberias had come not through benevolent means from the US but through their non-benevolent flighr from slavery and racis m The American Colonishyzation Society of Free People of Color of the United States (ACS) sponso red the fteed Af[Jcan-Amencan seeders known here as the second Liberians and mulano-domishynated through the process of disposal from the US to assuage Southern slave owners Colonizarion ro Liberia was an alternacive to the trauma thar integration wonld bring
Dr Pa~~n is a le~ding Wes( Africanist lnd African Americani~( He is the amhor of Physicians Cololllahsm R~C1sm and oiaspora in vesr Afi-ica (Universiry Press o fFJorida 1996) and many o(her sch~lorly publlcanons He IS an AssocJate Profesmr of History ar University of Miswuri Saint Louts
Liberian 5wdies Journa l XXX 2 (200S)
4 1 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
in Amcrica This traumatic odyssey was transmitted through oral uadition and in Tirren histo ry from generation to generation in Liberia well into the twentieth censhy[Un The founders had no interest in the reproduction of a society based on the unique racial divide and slavery left behind in the Uni ted States nor in their minds to allow the imposirion of a colonial bifurcated state rhat a developed samtatlon system
might bring for certain Hence they imposed preventabl~ ~easures of an exdu~ve na[llre ro slow the importation of racist ideas and settler soo enes from the WesL FIrst provisions in the Liberian ConstitUrion prohibite Euro-~erica~ls or Euro~eans f~~m owing land And Arricle V M iscellaneous proVISIOns Sect10n 12 and Sectio n 13 of [he Constitution of the Republic of Liberia July 26 1847 and amended through 1955 prohibited the righr of persons to hold private property unless they were of Ulack Liberian descent and citizens of rhe nation Second altho ugh a republic sl11ce 1847 and unlike rhe colonial bifurcated states Monrovia the capito l remained a mere hamlet of less rhan 5000 of America-Liberians and without portS transportashycion system electriciry roads and pipe-bourne running water The rest resided ~ n rhe coastal regions of Bassa Sinoe and at Harper adjacent (0 the lory Co~s ( Two l11tenshyrions of these settlements were the control of custom duties of mrernatIOnal trade and defense against French partition Third the Liberian govern ment provided inadequare support to public health and allowed the rhreat of epIdemICS to fester 1fl order to sta ll rhe presumprion of European rake-Over Some sixty yes after ItS colOnial nel~hshybors Liberja waired until colonial take-over was no longer a threar and laId Its hr~ t pipe-borne water system in urban Monrovia in 1953 The central thesis of this paper IS thar the Liberian government intentional ly feigned attempts of coo peration with the Wesc (0 develop sanitation measures in order ro main rain an image of rhe nation as
undesi rable ro white settlemenr from 1912-1953 Firesrone Rubber and Tyre Company was the major fo reign company in Liberia
during the early 1900s and placed health needs flrsr Tropical expertise in medic ine was indispensable for an alien work force and Tulane UnIversr ty and Harvard Umvershysity were the only twO tropical disease centers in the United Srares In 1926 Fltestone donated $20000 to Harvard University in a medical and bIOlogICal survey expedmon ro Liberia The one physic ian and seven scientistS were expens in tropical medicine and conducted the most rhorough medical and social histo ry of Liberia The H arvard University Expedition conducted investigative efforts into the Liberian incerior which bad received scant acrention up to this time The region lacked both a doctor and pharmacy with Western medicine The Expedition omtted however the fact that rhs was the zone of the indigenous docrors known as he Zoos surrounded wlrh r~e lo~ashycion of some forty-six medicinal planes used for medical treatment of che lnte~l~r people Soko Sacko (1864-1969) who had srudied in C6te dIvoire and became a CIVIC minded patriot was the most known herbalisr eye docror ar Zorzor he larer served as a liaison between the Liberia Fronrier Force and the towns people and further became
8 rhe first paramount Chief of the Mandingo people ar San niquellie The Expedirion
42 43
ADELL PATTON
however provided ad ditional commen ts on rhe Status of sanitarion in Liberia and health personnel thar dovetailed with lacer public heaJeh findings There is among th LIberian people no health otganization of any SOrt anywhere in the cou ntry no public health laboratory of any desctiption and no adequately trained sanitarian or physi Clan The government had selected a two-storied house formerly used as a res idence in Monrovia as a hospiral while we were rhere and had placed in it a few beds several of which were occupied by patiems in charge of a poorly qualified Liberian physician and ~urse 9 Dr David W Payne of the Bassa echnic group was the physician in reference III the report He was the first Liberian trained dacror of the twentie th centu ry and
entered Meharry Medical School in 190 I and may have graduated in 1904 0 He actllshyally never practiced medicine because the government made him Secretary of Educashytion In 1927 Flfestone donaced $5000 to the Harvard School ofTtopical Medicine for an in-depth analysis of a preventive serum for yellow fever Another $5000 was given to Dr George Schwab of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to reconstruct an ethnography of rhe Liberian peoples Shortly afrer the Harvard Expedition departed in 1927 the Liberian government established a hospital in the German cable station at Monrovia and the Lurherans had a hospital at Muhlenburg fourteen miles North of MolltoviaPresidem C D B King (1920-1 930) of the True Whig Parry began the first organIzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for rhe rrearmem of rhe indigent sick
Firestone expanded its infrastrucrure [hat improved healrh conditions around its plantations between 1926- 1933 Developmenr required laborers and heal th care Fitestone expended $275 000 in the construction and maintenance of 125 miles of roads around its rubber plantat ions and gave rhe government $63000 to improved irs road system A public radio service was built at the cost of $30000 to provide comshymunications that linked Liberia [he Un ired States and other countries Even more a trade school and farm were established for the indigeno us costing $ 10000 and a German philologists was retained to write an orthography of the Kpelle language for the first Ume In 1933 FIrestone built a hospital at the cOst of $56000 with an addi shytional $200000 expenditure Health care was made available for thousands of Liberians workers and even some curious Zoos or herbalist doctors came for treatmen t II White Ameri c-ul physicians were in charge of the Firestone medical establishment Dr Paul Willis (MD) was the fi rst Medical Direcror fot the Company and in
lime had to return to America due ro ill health Dr JUStuS B Rice (MD) succeeded Willis he had two assisranrs to help him take ca re of Firestone em ployees D r W O Wehrle a German doctor and medical practitionet from Tanganyika wirh the German forces in 19 14 came to Liberia in 1924 and hired by Firestone in 1934 hence he may have been one of Rices assistants Wehrle however served as local leader of the local Nazi group in Mon rovia 12 Hence Wehrles presence in Liberia added a new dimenshysion to racist clinical pracrice and segregati on at Firestone in his observations of Liberians especially in his discussions wirn Western legarions abour Liberians inferior
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLlCY
and comparative cognitive intelligence levels in hospitals clinics an~ sund ry Liberia was now laden with multiple theories and practices about the anomalies of race on the
Adantic coastal littoral 13
The interplay of th e unhealthy image of Liberia on both sides of rhe Atlantic began between 1912 and 1929 Rising anti-white sentiments among Amenco-Llbwans became the raison d(erre in borh years for resistance to sanitar ion reform Members of dIe Western diplomatic corps had increased in Monrovia and withour immunities to African diseases It was not uncil the 1929 Yellow Fever epidemic that legatees from rhe Wesr demanded sani tat ion refo rm Knowl edge of the disease reached the medical esrablishmenr as early as 21 January 1929 But the Republic Sfalled and tactically delayed saniration development In Febtuary 1929 eight dearhs were reported fcom )ell~w fever and wi th the exceprion of one American N~ltgro child whos family had moved to Liberia from St Lo Uts M1SSOUfl and another Amencan Negro male rhey wete all Liberians The Libetian government had effectively kept its silence on the disease until this time M E Vinson a whi te American and Miss Amanda PhIllips a Liberian both employed by Firesrone Rubbet and Tyre Company concacted the dIS ease Vluso n is said to be the first white man to reCover form yellow fever III Llbefl~ butthecondition of Phillips remained unknown Miss Maryland B Nichols an Amenshycan missionary ar Bassa Liberia died from symproms suggestive of yellow fever Mss Lncile Todd a Colored from America who worked in the government hospital con tacted (he disease but recovered Ironically these symp toms and morralltJes occurred without serum in me country for prevention ile no vi tal statistics were kept by the government in 1929 Dr Justus B Rice Chief of the Medical Staff of Firestone Plantation Company estimated the deaths at twenry-five fro m yellow fever that also included an Indian shopkeeper Befo re the 110 doses of ser um agalilst yellow fever did arrive from the School of Tropical Mediciue-London on a fast boat around
Ma the Elder Dempster Steamship Line at Monrovia reported that tie co lonialy M 5terrimry of Freetown Sierra Leone had declared a quarantine a~ainst onrovla l~ March because of yellow fever On 7 March Sdg T Elwood DaVIS Dlreccor of Samshymtion fot the Liberian government final ly distri buted posters warmng cHlzens to make their premises conform to the new sanirary regulations (Figure I on next page)
Mr William T Francis an African American diplomat from Mlllnesota 10 Llbefla from 1927-1 929 and who had been forwarding dispatches co the US State Departshyment abou t the epidemic died himselffrom yellow feve r in 1929 Francis was funeralizcd in Sr Paul and buried in Nashville Tennessee Foreign diplomats complamed conshystantly about their sufferings from the poor health condi tions of Monrovia
T he yellow fever crisis of 1929 was a major concern on both Sides oftheArlanoc
that inspired consultation between the US and Liberian governments Expatflates sufshyfered illnesses and deaths but rhe effects on the Liberian nation as a whole remallled marginal The Liberian government accepted the offer of rhe United States Puhlic Healdl Service (USPHS) in 1930 to conducr au eighteen month survey of sanilatJon
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
40
Liberia and Containment Policy Against Colonial Take-Over Public Health and
Sanitation Reform 1912-1953
Adell Patton
The independent Repnblic of Liberia was surrounded by colonial governments in West Africa by 1900 In the colonial te rritories the European populati on had grown In numbers Because of rhe Germ T heory of Disease of 1880 it beca me known that bacteria spread disease and the use of quinine had slowed the m orbidi ty and m ortal ity rates of Europeans from malaria and improved their health co ndi tions in the region Colomallsm however created new urbanization dusters and modern new disease environments By bringing African people together from diffe rent disease environshy~ents for the ~rs( rjrne colonial u ansportation systems allowed for the unprecedented difuslOn of dISeases s uch as yellow fever tuberculosis influenza plague syphilis cerebtospmal menmgms trypanosomiasis schistosomiasis malaria and ocher infecshycions 2 In order co control the spread of these diseases co lonial governments develshyoped medICat departments prevemive and curative medicine programs pipe-bourne water sUpplles sewerage refuse collection hill sration segregated housing and enaned quara~unes on the occasions of epidemics Even though Liberia was founded as an Amer~can prorege and remained un offi cially as an American protectorate adjacenr colomal regimes had claImed some of Liberian territOry and had created some of the indigeno us peop le within the republic as independents Both Francophon e and Anglophone governmc nts were constant threa ts to rhe governing Americo-Liberians who rema ined vigilant and protective about their sovereignty3
This Liberian mind-set was of long standing It had been inherited from the intershysections between slavery and racism in the US and in the African American setder di sposal to Liberia Standing pasr US histo riography on its head the descendants of the America-Liberias had come not through benevolent means from the US but through their non-benevolent flighr from slavery and racis m The American Colonishyzation Society of Free People of Color of the United States (ACS) sponso red the fteed Af[Jcan-Amencan seeders known here as the second Liberians and mulano-domishynated through the process of disposal from the US to assuage Southern slave owners Colonizarion ro Liberia was an alternacive to the trauma thar integration wonld bring
Dr Pa~~n is a le~ding Wes( Africanist lnd African Americani~( He is the amhor of Physicians Cololllahsm R~C1sm and oiaspora in vesr Afi-ica (Universiry Press o fFJorida 1996) and many o(her sch~lorly publlcanons He IS an AssocJate Profesmr of History ar University of Miswuri Saint Louts
Liberian 5wdies Journa l XXX 2 (200S)
4 1 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
in Amcrica This traumatic odyssey was transmitted through oral uadition and in Tirren histo ry from generation to generation in Liberia well into the twentieth censhy[Un The founders had no interest in the reproduction of a society based on the unique racial divide and slavery left behind in the Uni ted States nor in their minds to allow the imposirion of a colonial bifurcated state rhat a developed samtatlon system
might bring for certain Hence they imposed preventabl~ ~easures of an exdu~ve na[llre ro slow the importation of racist ideas and settler soo enes from the WesL FIrst provisions in the Liberian ConstitUrion prohibite Euro-~erica~ls or Euro~eans f~~m owing land And Arricle V M iscellaneous proVISIOns Sect10n 12 and Sectio n 13 of [he Constitution of the Republic of Liberia July 26 1847 and amended through 1955 prohibited the righr of persons to hold private property unless they were of Ulack Liberian descent and citizens of rhe nation Second altho ugh a republic sl11ce 1847 and unlike rhe colonial bifurcated states Monrovia the capito l remained a mere hamlet of less rhan 5000 of America-Liberians and without portS transportashycion system electriciry roads and pipe-bourne running water The rest resided ~ n rhe coastal regions of Bassa Sinoe and at Harper adjacent (0 the lory Co~s ( Two l11tenshyrions of these settlements were the control of custom duties of mrernatIOnal trade and defense against French partition Third the Liberian govern ment provided inadequare support to public health and allowed the rhreat of epIdemICS to fester 1fl order to sta ll rhe presumprion of European rake-Over Some sixty yes after ItS colOnial nel~hshybors Liberja waired until colonial take-over was no longer a threar and laId Its hr~ t pipe-borne water system in urban Monrovia in 1953 The central thesis of this paper IS thar the Liberian government intentional ly feigned attempts of coo peration with the Wesc (0 develop sanitation measures in order ro main rain an image of rhe nation as
undesi rable ro white settlemenr from 1912-1953 Firesrone Rubber and Tyre Company was the major fo reign company in Liberia
during the early 1900s and placed health needs flrsr Tropical expertise in medic ine was indispensable for an alien work force and Tulane UnIversr ty and Harvard Umvershysity were the only twO tropical disease centers in the United Srares In 1926 Fltestone donated $20000 to Harvard University in a medical and bIOlogICal survey expedmon ro Liberia The one physic ian and seven scientistS were expens in tropical medicine and conducted the most rhorough medical and social histo ry of Liberia The H arvard University Expedition conducted investigative efforts into the Liberian incerior which bad received scant acrention up to this time The region lacked both a doctor and pharmacy with Western medicine The Expedition omtted however the fact that rhs was the zone of the indigenous docrors known as he Zoos surrounded wlrh r~e lo~ashycion of some forty-six medicinal planes used for medical treatment of che lnte~l~r people Soko Sacko (1864-1969) who had srudied in C6te dIvoire and became a CIVIC minded patriot was the most known herbalisr eye docror ar Zorzor he larer served as a liaison between the Liberia Fronrier Force and the towns people and further became
8 rhe first paramount Chief of the Mandingo people ar San niquellie The Expedirion
42 43
ADELL PATTON
however provided ad ditional commen ts on rhe Status of sanitarion in Liberia and health personnel thar dovetailed with lacer public heaJeh findings There is among th LIberian people no health otganization of any SOrt anywhere in the cou ntry no public health laboratory of any desctiption and no adequately trained sanitarian or physi Clan The government had selected a two-storied house formerly used as a res idence in Monrovia as a hospiral while we were rhere and had placed in it a few beds several of which were occupied by patiems in charge of a poorly qualified Liberian physician and ~urse 9 Dr David W Payne of the Bassa echnic group was the physician in reference III the report He was the first Liberian trained dacror of the twentie th centu ry and
entered Meharry Medical School in 190 I and may have graduated in 1904 0 He actllshyally never practiced medicine because the government made him Secretary of Educashytion In 1927 Flfestone donaced $5000 to the Harvard School ofTtopical Medicine for an in-depth analysis of a preventive serum for yellow fever Another $5000 was given to Dr George Schwab of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to reconstruct an ethnography of rhe Liberian peoples Shortly afrer the Harvard Expedition departed in 1927 the Liberian government established a hospital in the German cable station at Monrovia and the Lurherans had a hospital at Muhlenburg fourteen miles North of MolltoviaPresidem C D B King (1920-1 930) of the True Whig Parry began the first organIzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for rhe rrearmem of rhe indigent sick
Firestone expanded its infrastrucrure [hat improved healrh conditions around its plantations between 1926- 1933 Developmenr required laborers and heal th care Fitestone expended $275 000 in the construction and maintenance of 125 miles of roads around its rubber plantat ions and gave rhe government $63000 to improved irs road system A public radio service was built at the cost of $30000 to provide comshymunications that linked Liberia [he Un ired States and other countries Even more a trade school and farm were established for the indigeno us costing $ 10000 and a German philologists was retained to write an orthography of the Kpelle language for the first Ume In 1933 FIrestone built a hospital at the cOst of $56000 with an addi shytional $200000 expenditure Health care was made available for thousands of Liberians workers and even some curious Zoos or herbalist doctors came for treatmen t II White Ameri c-ul physicians were in charge of the Firestone medical establishment Dr Paul Willis (MD) was the fi rst Medical Direcror fot the Company and in
lime had to return to America due ro ill health Dr JUStuS B Rice (MD) succeeded Willis he had two assisranrs to help him take ca re of Firestone em ployees D r W O Wehrle a German doctor and medical practitionet from Tanganyika wirh the German forces in 19 14 came to Liberia in 1924 and hired by Firestone in 1934 hence he may have been one of Rices assistants Wehrle however served as local leader of the local Nazi group in Mon rovia 12 Hence Wehrles presence in Liberia added a new dimenshysion to racist clinical pracrice and segregati on at Firestone in his observations of Liberians especially in his discussions wirn Western legarions abour Liberians inferior
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLlCY
and comparative cognitive intelligence levels in hospitals clinics an~ sund ry Liberia was now laden with multiple theories and practices about the anomalies of race on the
Adantic coastal littoral 13
The interplay of th e unhealthy image of Liberia on both sides of rhe Atlantic began between 1912 and 1929 Rising anti-white sentiments among Amenco-Llbwans became the raison d(erre in borh years for resistance to sanitar ion reform Members of dIe Western diplomatic corps had increased in Monrovia and withour immunities to African diseases It was not uncil the 1929 Yellow Fever epidemic that legatees from rhe Wesr demanded sani tat ion refo rm Knowl edge of the disease reached the medical esrablishmenr as early as 21 January 1929 But the Republic Sfalled and tactically delayed saniration development In Febtuary 1929 eight dearhs were reported fcom )ell~w fever and wi th the exceprion of one American N~ltgro child whos family had moved to Liberia from St Lo Uts M1SSOUfl and another Amencan Negro male rhey wete all Liberians The Libetian government had effectively kept its silence on the disease until this time M E Vinson a whi te American and Miss Amanda PhIllips a Liberian both employed by Firesrone Rubbet and Tyre Company concacted the dIS ease Vluso n is said to be the first white man to reCover form yellow fever III Llbefl~ butthecondition of Phillips remained unknown Miss Maryland B Nichols an Amenshycan missionary ar Bassa Liberia died from symproms suggestive of yellow fever Mss Lncile Todd a Colored from America who worked in the government hospital con tacted (he disease but recovered Ironically these symp toms and morralltJes occurred without serum in me country for prevention ile no vi tal statistics were kept by the government in 1929 Dr Justus B Rice Chief of the Medical Staff of Firestone Plantation Company estimated the deaths at twenry-five fro m yellow fever that also included an Indian shopkeeper Befo re the 110 doses of ser um agalilst yellow fever did arrive from the School of Tropical Mediciue-London on a fast boat around
Ma the Elder Dempster Steamship Line at Monrovia reported that tie co lonialy M 5terrimry of Freetown Sierra Leone had declared a quarantine a~ainst onrovla l~ March because of yellow fever On 7 March Sdg T Elwood DaVIS Dlreccor of Samshymtion fot the Liberian government final ly distri buted posters warmng cHlzens to make their premises conform to the new sanirary regulations (Figure I on next page)
Mr William T Francis an African American diplomat from Mlllnesota 10 Llbefla from 1927-1 929 and who had been forwarding dispatches co the US State Departshyment abou t the epidemic died himselffrom yellow feve r in 1929 Francis was funeralizcd in Sr Paul and buried in Nashville Tennessee Foreign diplomats complamed conshystantly about their sufferings from the poor health condi tions of Monrovia
T he yellow fever crisis of 1929 was a major concern on both Sides oftheArlanoc
that inspired consultation between the US and Liberian governments Expatflates sufshyfered illnesses and deaths but rhe effects on the Liberian nation as a whole remallled marginal The Liberian government accepted the offer of rhe United States Puhlic Healdl Service (USPHS) in 1930 to conducr au eighteen month survey of sanilatJon
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
42 43
ADELL PATTON
however provided ad ditional commen ts on rhe Status of sanitarion in Liberia and health personnel thar dovetailed with lacer public heaJeh findings There is among th LIberian people no health otganization of any SOrt anywhere in the cou ntry no public health laboratory of any desctiption and no adequately trained sanitarian or physi Clan The government had selected a two-storied house formerly used as a res idence in Monrovia as a hospiral while we were rhere and had placed in it a few beds several of which were occupied by patiems in charge of a poorly qualified Liberian physician and ~urse 9 Dr David W Payne of the Bassa echnic group was the physician in reference III the report He was the first Liberian trained dacror of the twentie th centu ry and
entered Meharry Medical School in 190 I and may have graduated in 1904 0 He actllshyally never practiced medicine because the government made him Secretary of Educashytion In 1927 Flfestone donaced $5000 to the Harvard School ofTtopical Medicine for an in-depth analysis of a preventive serum for yellow fever Another $5000 was given to Dr George Schwab of the Peabody Museum of Harvard to reconstruct an ethnography of rhe Liberian peoples Shortly afrer the Harvard Expedition departed in 1927 the Liberian government established a hospital in the German cable station at Monrovia and the Lurherans had a hospital at Muhlenburg fourteen miles North of MolltoviaPresidem C D B King (1920-1 930) of the True Whig Parry began the first organIzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for rhe rrearmem of rhe indigent sick
Firestone expanded its infrastrucrure [hat improved healrh conditions around its plantations between 1926- 1933 Developmenr required laborers and heal th care Fitestone expended $275 000 in the construction and maintenance of 125 miles of roads around its rubber plantat ions and gave rhe government $63000 to improved irs road system A public radio service was built at the cost of $30000 to provide comshymunications that linked Liberia [he Un ired States and other countries Even more a trade school and farm were established for the indigeno us costing $ 10000 and a German philologists was retained to write an orthography of the Kpelle language for the first Ume In 1933 FIrestone built a hospital at the cOst of $56000 with an addi shytional $200000 expenditure Health care was made available for thousands of Liberians workers and even some curious Zoos or herbalist doctors came for treatmen t II White Ameri c-ul physicians were in charge of the Firestone medical establishment Dr Paul Willis (MD) was the fi rst Medical Direcror fot the Company and in
lime had to return to America due ro ill health Dr JUStuS B Rice (MD) succeeded Willis he had two assisranrs to help him take ca re of Firestone em ployees D r W O Wehrle a German doctor and medical practitionet from Tanganyika wirh the German forces in 19 14 came to Liberia in 1924 and hired by Firestone in 1934 hence he may have been one of Rices assistants Wehrle however served as local leader of the local Nazi group in Mon rovia 12 Hence Wehrles presence in Liberia added a new dimenshysion to racist clinical pracrice and segregati on at Firestone in his observations of Liberians especially in his discussions wirn Western legarions abour Liberians inferior
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLlCY
and comparative cognitive intelligence levels in hospitals clinics an~ sund ry Liberia was now laden with multiple theories and practices about the anomalies of race on the
Adantic coastal littoral 13
The interplay of th e unhealthy image of Liberia on both sides of rhe Atlantic began between 1912 and 1929 Rising anti-white sentiments among Amenco-Llbwans became the raison d(erre in borh years for resistance to sanitar ion reform Members of dIe Western diplomatic corps had increased in Monrovia and withour immunities to African diseases It was not uncil the 1929 Yellow Fever epidemic that legatees from rhe Wesr demanded sani tat ion refo rm Knowl edge of the disease reached the medical esrablishmenr as early as 21 January 1929 But the Republic Sfalled and tactically delayed saniration development In Febtuary 1929 eight dearhs were reported fcom )ell~w fever and wi th the exceprion of one American N~ltgro child whos family had moved to Liberia from St Lo Uts M1SSOUfl and another Amencan Negro male rhey wete all Liberians The Libetian government had effectively kept its silence on the disease until this time M E Vinson a whi te American and Miss Amanda PhIllips a Liberian both employed by Firesrone Rubbet and Tyre Company concacted the dIS ease Vluso n is said to be the first white man to reCover form yellow fever III Llbefl~ butthecondition of Phillips remained unknown Miss Maryland B Nichols an Amenshycan missionary ar Bassa Liberia died from symproms suggestive of yellow fever Mss Lncile Todd a Colored from America who worked in the government hospital con tacted (he disease but recovered Ironically these symp toms and morralltJes occurred without serum in me country for prevention ile no vi tal statistics were kept by the government in 1929 Dr Justus B Rice Chief of the Medical Staff of Firestone Plantation Company estimated the deaths at twenry-five fro m yellow fever that also included an Indian shopkeeper Befo re the 110 doses of ser um agalilst yellow fever did arrive from the School of Tropical Mediciue-London on a fast boat around
Ma the Elder Dempster Steamship Line at Monrovia reported that tie co lonialy M 5terrimry of Freetown Sierra Leone had declared a quarantine a~ainst onrovla l~ March because of yellow fever On 7 March Sdg T Elwood DaVIS Dlreccor of Samshymtion fot the Liberian government final ly distri buted posters warmng cHlzens to make their premises conform to the new sanirary regulations (Figure I on next page)
Mr William T Francis an African American diplomat from Mlllnesota 10 Llbefla from 1927-1 929 and who had been forwarding dispatches co the US State Departshyment abou t the epidemic died himselffrom yellow feve r in 1929 Francis was funeralizcd in Sr Paul and buried in Nashville Tennessee Foreign diplomats complamed conshystantly about their sufferings from the poor health condi tions of Monrovia
T he yellow fever crisis of 1929 was a major concern on both Sides oftheArlanoc
that inspired consultation between the US and Liberian governments Expatflates sufshyfered illnesses and deaths but rhe effects on the Liberian nation as a whole remallled marginal The Liberian government accepted the offer of rhe United States Puhlic Healdl Service (USPHS) in 1930 to conducr au eighteen month survey of sanilatJon
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
44 ADELL PATTON
DEPI1RTMEXT OF jJlJiTTIlTlON ClTY OF MONtQVl11
NOTICE NO1 29
The public from time to tim~ hN been warnshyed of the cons quences of the violation of the exiAting Sanitary Regulations therefote WITHshyOUT RJRTHER NOTICE RIGID A(1( N WILL BE [NSTITUTED AGAINST ALL VIOshyLATORS
Any yard found to contain empty bottles tins water barrels uDcDvered discarded dishshy~s or aoy thing in which mosquitoes may breed or containing trash weeds excersive schrubbury cess pools or a FIl l ED W C OPEN W C from which offensive odor may
K pe ot accessible to fiie an OPEN oWjliLlLrwiU ha-coudeaed Qll$8l1itary
All persons 9wninr vacnt lou which centontain weed or ~III lcbrubbU1 - u e w Ined 10 (I~rn lnd dupole of
trash WITHl TpoundN DAYS from date bereof or action will b~ tllken 1 aecltldance with SPECIAL REGULA TIONS 1927
As no further notice of9tension of time will be given the public iamp hereby warned to immediately proceed to make their premises lt )nform to Sanitary RlgutationJ
By order of the Municipal Hoard
Sgd T ELWOOD DAVIS lYrctvr of Sanilatlon_
Appro Sgd S G HARMON
ChairmanRua -antlnl Board ~_ l CIllO - liberia
Much 7 1999
45LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
on the spot T he US PHS sent o ut its ass istant D r H F Smith (MD) to devise a comprehensive sanita tion schem e 15 which was the precursor of sanitation and med ishycal development of Liberia after WW1I and one not without co nflict On 9 January 1930 Dr Howard K Smith arrived o n loan fro m the US Surgeon General in Monrovia as Chief Medical Advisor to T he president of Liberia through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Liberian government 16 T he Agreement stipulated that sani tary investigations be held and afte r slaquobacks and much negotiations fieldwork fnally began on 5 March 1930 Survey cards were issued showing the location of the preshymises house to house surveys of building lo ts in the ci ty name o f occupant census data nationality presence of roof gutters pools of depressions tin cans bo ttles and wells that provided mosquito breeding gro unds Violators were to be ptosecuted by the co urt Prominent officials however refused CO provide proper data and [Q allow inspections o f their ptemises Whe n names of violaco[s o f sanitary regulations were presented before the courts the president summoned the US Chief Medical Advisor to his offi ce and informed that the individual against whom proceedings were being taken was a friend of the President and could not be prosecuted 17 T he charges had to be withdrawn and it became impossible co obtain a hearing o f cases before the courts By May 193 0 the Liberian gove rnment refused effo rts to implement sa ni tation reform Dr Smith threatened ro leave if negotiat ions failed in compliance through diplomatic maneuvers with the League of N ations and the British o n matters of slashyvery in Liberia Smith moved next and held a meeting with Liberian high ranking cabinet officials about th e need for medical reforms and eradication of Yellow Fever on 25 January 1930 The cabinet showed lirele in terest in his presenratio n on yellow fever control present were the presidents spouse SecretalY of the treasury secretary ofstare secretary of w ar and numero us other attending members of the government T he officials open ly expressed their disbeliefs about the exisrence of yellow fever and in terminati ng their com ments no ted even if such a disease did exist it cannOt attack Liberians and that all of the so-called sani tary work was only for the protection of foreign residents 18
The position of the ca binet must be qualifi ed in regard ro diseases in Liberia Between 1920 to 1945 physicians who had been in the country for twenty-fi ve yea rs lisred the fo llowing major diseases common ro Liberia malaria (vector Anopheles ga mbiae) helminth infec tions (parasite worms) venereal diseases (syphilis gonorrhea and chancroid--ulcers) and in specific parrs of the country sch istosomiasis (sn ail dissem inated disease from water co ntaminario n) f~a riasis (disease spread by blood sucking anthropods-gnats Aies mosquitos depositing larvae) and trypa noso mias is (tsetse fly) absence or no t common to Liberia were yeJlow feve r (virus transm itted by bite of female mosqu ito Aedes aegypti) typhus fever (epidemic louse-borne and fleashyborne unfavorable living conditions) cholera (diarthea wirh severe loss of fluid s and electtolytes) and typhoid fever (acure infectio us disease and causative orga nism Salshymonella food handlers body dischargers moti le bacillus) Beyond poli tical reason s
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
4G ADELL PATTON 47 LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
for containment (his showed (hac mecabinet was correct on medical grounds Bur (he Municipal government however even refused Smirh access ro (he monchly monajiey records dosed- off he expendilture of $ 18000 ea rmarked by the legislure for the pro cection of foreigners and showed iitrie concern over the lack of Liberians trained in sanitation perso nnel as the inspectors corps With bmrienecks and frustration mounrshying over the lack of interest in sa nitation reform the US Surgeon Genetal rhrough the Secretary of rhe Treasury ordered Dr Smith to be released from his services to
Libetia as of 21 December 1930 and to sail at once for the US Smith who was on loa n for eighteen months left Monrovia in disgust after nine mo mhs for Freetown around 27 December 1930 and on to England by 8 January 193 120 Fot example the Liberian government successfully resisted memorandum of agreemen t effo[[S by forshyeign interests to link sanitarion regulations to funds sought for government usage 2
Samuel Rober Jr of the US Legation at Monrovia wrote rhe foll owing to the Sectetary of State on 8 December 193 1
The complete lack of interest and in many cases open hostili ty ro rhe work of sanitary and yellow fever conrrol has been repeatedly demonstrated by offishycials of this government and private citizens It has also been established rhat this hostility has been in part due to the feeling that it was a measure primarily adopted for the safety and secuti ty of foreigners here resident as the average Liberian born in Governmem Office and in privare life has never seen rhe advantages of proper health control nor been educated dS to its necessity He merely perceives me inco nvenience and personal discomfon caused by wh at he considers the bothet and expense of it all Ir would thus appear doubtful whethet any successor to the former President [Charies D B King 1920shy1930 True Vhig Party and West IndianJ will be desirous of adopting and furth ering an unpopular measure of this nature when his predecessor [Presishydent Daniel E Howard 1912-1920J was forced from omce by the opposishytion to reforms among which sanitary control was numbered and when antishyforeign and anti-white senriment seems daily ro be growing stronger This feelin g is not confined ro a single political group but seems to be shared by all Liberians but not me narives22
Americans and Europeans arrived on their career paths and departed in hasr in order to escape further the virulent srrain of me mosquito vector as agency for morbidshyity and death (plasmodium fa lciparum) common to Equatorial Africa
Liberia attracted a number of orher physicians with questionable medical qualifishycati~ns most of whom may nO( have met the regisrration requitements in rhe neigh p
bonng Anglophone colonies with th e Medical Registrar rooted in he medical reforms of 1858 24 D r G Bouer who also acted as rhe Charge d Affairs and French Consul in Liberia and D r Rudolph G Fuszek a Hungarian were the only European doctors practicing in Monrovia in 193 1 Fuszek who had arrived in Liberia from one of rhe
German colonies in East Africa in 1918 and knowledgeable about tropical diseases WdS known to be very aumcraric wich ocher docmrs2s He was able (0 pusition himself early as co nsulting physician to rhe Liberian elite and beca me very inAuential in rhe True Vhig Pa rty government Hence Fuszek may have been responsible for the enacrshyment of the first Medical Board certification rhat began through acts of rhe legislature in 1927 and with himself acting in the similar role of a Chief Medical Officer as had long existed in the colonies 26
The infusion of fo reigners inro Liberia kindled public health needs The governshyment established a hospital in [he German cable station at Monrovia and the Lutherans had a hospi tal at Muhlenburg fou rteen miles North of Mo nrovia in 1927 President C D B King 0920-1 930) of the True Vhig Pa rty had begun the first otganimiddotzed development of sanitation work activities around Monrovia in 1928 and supported measures for the rreacment of me indigen t sick Overtime Dr Fuszek became the first Direcrot of the Bureau of Narional Public Health and Sa nitation in 1930-1940 Futshyther travels of Liberian professionals abroad allowed for the recrui rment of public healrh professionals ro Liberia This may explain the arrival of Dr Solomon J R Edwards (MD ) in Seprember 1931 who was a coloured Liberian ex-West Indian medical officer but whose medical expertise lacked credibili ty Dr Leo Sajous (MD) a Hairian residing in Paris France came ro Liberia in 1934 and departing only to
return shordy before WWlI and ro heavily involved himself later in Liberian poli tics with the Polish government In 1942 Sajous opened the Liberian Government Hosshypital in Mo nrovia and setved as D irecror of Public Health and Sanitation A Dr Gieskann an Austrian Jew refugee eye specialists was assis ram co Sajous along wim Firestone docrors as consultants Dr George W Harley (BA MD PhD) had sertl ed at Ganta as a medical missionary in 1934 and did oursranding work as did Dr Arthur Schnitzer (MD ) of Hungarian Jewish origin who arrived in 1935 Schnirzer later became the doc(Qr to President Tubman and others in the Execurive Mansion (When he died in 1970 the Liberian Legislature honored hi s widow Mrs Christine Schnitzer with An Act G ranting Annui ty To the Widow of The Lare Doctor Arrhur Schnirzer of $300000 per annum for the rest of her life) T Elwood Davis an African-American who served as a Colonel in th e Liberian army had been in rhe country since 19 18 as superintendent of tb e Zionist Mission The British legation observations of him in 193] was critical indeed PHe very soon turned inw a fake medical officer in which career he supported by President King who eventually made him Director o f Public Health and Saniration Dr D avis or colonel Davis-his claims to medical and military qualifications are equally slight-continued his careers as an imitati on Public Healrh Officer and an imimrion soldiet under successive Admini srrations and still enj oys his military rank His career culminated in his appointment in 193 1 to be special commiss ioner of the Liberian Government on the Kru Coas t He has acted as Superintendenr of Cape Mount Dimcr since 1936 and his political influence is now of no account 30 Hence Liberia had an inreresting
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
48 49 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY
cohorr ofscientific professionals of multiple racial perspectives in add ition ro me United States governmenr to co-ex ist with the anomaJies of Firesmne rubber
The presence of the Unilted Stares government expatriates and other foreign firms increased during WWII Thei r presence furrher assuaged the Liberian mind-set about a possible whire setrier take-Over and Liberia gained access to imporred pubshylic health knowledge and medical supervision For example the 25 Station Hospital from Forr Bragg Norrh Carolina was acrivared on 24 March 1942 and arrived ofT MarshaU Liberia on 16 June 1942 to treat army troops and civilian support m emo
bers involved in the war efforr Some I040 Negro troops were present under the command of twelve white officers as parr of me Lend-Lease Agreement in 1942 Mr Ossie Davis (191 7 -2005)-me fame stage and Hollywood screen actor-was drafted into this unit in 1942 and served as surgical rechnician to born trOOps and indigenous inhabitants until honorably discharged in 1945 The aforementioned USP HS was also part of the agreement In 1943 Presidenr Franklin D Roosevelt did a refueling Stop over from Casablanca Morocco with his press secretary H arry Hopkins (This was the first time thar an American president set foot in Black Mrica) Thereupon the USA agreed to Lend-Lease funds for Liberia in effores to contain the Vichy regime and Nali Germany operarions in West Africa 31 Infrascrucrural developmems began on a mammoth scale in millions of dollars Firesto ne provided an additional stimulus mrough exporr taxes to the government land rents import duries and rhrough payshyment of hut rax for every employed Liberian Some 26000 ro 30000 daily workers made up the labor force The Liberian government placed an originallimir ofFiresrone white employees ar 1500 and their fumilies ar any give n time and only wirh the pershymission of me Liberian governmenr mighr other foreigners enter rhe work force Nevshyermeless as journalist Howard W French contends The Firesrone plantation served as Americas suaregic reserve of rubber supplies in World War 1132
In 1944-1945 T he American Foundarion for Tropica l Medicine and Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health had conducted a very successful exploshyrarion of all phases of trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in Liberia As a memorial to
the late Harvey Firesrone St (1868- 1938) Harvey Firesrone Jr esrablished a fund of $250000 for rhe American Foundation for Tropical Medicine (AFTM) ro build a permanent instirute for research in tropical diseases in Liberia The gjft stipulated chat ten leading medical schools hold joint responsibilities in rhe supervision of irs operashytions In a major deparrure from Firesrone rubbers racial policies ar [he rimes the AFTM prohibited any restriction in regard race creed or color in irs operations[Q
that all informarion be disseminared equally and rhar rhe AFTM provide rhe approshypriate funds for operating cosr The AFTM approved of these condirions and in early 1946 Dr Thomas T Mackie rraveled ro Liberia ro meet wirh rhe Liberian government for rhe arrangemenr of a suitable site The acquisirion of building materiaJs formed a difficuJr task and me original plans were pur on hold The NationaJ Insrirures of Health (NIH) sent some of their Staff members on loan ro the Liberia Insrirure for targered
research Construction moved progressively The US Department ofState announced on 8 February 1945 thar ir was sending Lt Col Dr John B West (MD Su rgeon) to Monrovia and other sires in Liberia (0 introduce new public heal(h iniriarives The USPHSM (Mission) would operate an experimental laboJatory and roving clinic in Monrovia and in (he interior Dr West an African American and member of the USPHSM was also its Director and well acquainced with healrh condi rions in Liberia and submirred a series of repOHS in the respecrive monrhs of service The 17 April 1945 report indicated his arrival in Monrovia on 7 March and with an agreemenr from rhe British Colonial Office ro send Liberians to Brirish scbools for laboratory rraining Cooperarion between the USPHSM in Liberia and British Sierra leone began on 14 March on the con trol of smallpox and tubes of vaccine virus of an effected villageThe USPH SM reported on orher diseases in rhe inrerior of Kakara and Monrovia lOok measures at isolation By 25 March Wesr was joined by eight other USPHSM personnel that included a demal surgeon and assistanr nurse officers Persons going abroad were innoculared for yellow feve r from vaccines given by rhe nearby US Army The Liberian governmenr paid for renovarion of the hospital operating room transshyformers and wiring sterilization equipmenr flush running water railers inspection of vtlls and received other sanitation reports on the entomology of mosquiros Drugs arrive from me Mission Adanta office and used ro srock both me Monrovia hospiral and to Dr George Harley (MD) Director of rhe Ganta Missio n in rhe far inrerior While Liberia made progress toward a unified public health consciousness under the USPHSM me absence of roads for rransporring personnel materiaJs and equipment conrinued co hamper remore areas to extend disease conrrol measures Quarrerly inventories showed rhe absence of body fluid replacements and a letter went our ro the Red Cross for assiStance Dr West observed rhat only five physicians were practicing in the whole nation of esti mated cwo million and ended with a plea ro allow at leasr rwo officers from rhe Mission ro conduct private pracrice J4 On 2 May 1945 Presishydem William VS Tubman issued A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT rhar notified residenrs of Monrovia and environs to permit represenratives of rhe United Srates Public HeaJth Mission ro Liberia ro enter the homes and spray or omershywise apply DDT ro walls and ceilings for me purpose of killing mosquitosTo give desired effecr ro this Proclamation the representatives of rhe Unired Srares Public Healrh Mission to Liberia shall be considered as the representatives of the Governshyment of the Republic of Liberia 35 This presidential change in posirion was a remarkshyabJe rurnabour in arrirude in regard ro sanirarion reform when compared ro the governmenrs stau nch posirion againsr comrol measures of the yellow fever epidemic of 1929
Dr Wesr submitted addirional reporrs of USPHSM acriviries in 1945 On II April Dr Louis E Middleton (Dental Surgeon) opened me first dental clinic in Liberia and saw approximarely nine[ parienrs in rhe first rhree weeks of consultation Dr C L ScarbroLlgh an American cirizen and graduate of Howard University School of Denshy
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
50 51 ADELL PATTON
timy was also present and being advised to become an understudy with Dr Middleton Sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis was noted at Sa noquelli that effected eighry per cent of the population The Liberian Bureau of Public Health and San itation agreed to
dispatch a medical office to investigate the findings A Medica l Arts School for nurse training was opened on 30 April in the Government Hosp ital wich some twenry stushydents registered T he nursing school began with no microscopes and had to borrowed
books and skeletons from the Lutheran interior mission of Phebe Hospital then located at Zorzor and moved later to Central Province now Bong Counry Dr Wesr delivered the opening addressed The H ealth Education ass istan t subm itted articles to the loca l press that printed weekly articles on Lets Talk About Your Heal rh The
USPHSM had stepped up irs health conrrol measures ar Monrovia and made rhe Liberian gove rnmen r aWaIe of irs public healrh responsibiliries More importanry me USPHSM esrablished communicarions wirh rhe Brirish medical aurhoriries in Freerown Sierra Leone wirh Liberia wich French Guinea ar Bolshun -Kelahun and wirh the US on informarion regarding ourbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox in efforts ro control diseases Linkages were further esrablished wirh Gama and orher inrerior misshysions hospitals Advertisemenrs of clinic and available d rugs apprised villagers who arrived at chern in increasing numbers seekin Western medicine37
The real inrenl of rhe USPHSM in che long run appeared in a lettet from me Acring Secretary of Srare Joseph C Grew to rhe US House of Representarives Conshygressman Clarence Cannon Chairman Com mirree o n Appropriat ions The US Senshyare chrearened ro reduce rhe appropriarion of the USPHSM in less chan one year of its operarion in Liberia Grew wrote to Cannon on 26 June 1945 in response to having delered items in H R 3199 restored by che US Senate through co nferees ofprovisions on page 23 lin es 12 and 3 that related to rhe Labo r-Federal Secuti ry ap propriarion Bill T hese irems in quesrions of the Bill provided for the Development and prosecushytion of a program for the cancrol of communica ble diseases in Libe ria in cooperarion with the Liberian Government Grew wrore
The Unired Srares Public Health Mission which has been funcr ioning in Liberia fat nearly a yea r is designed ro prevenr rhe spread of disease and disshyease vecrors from Liberia to the Unired Srares and to orher pa of the world Yellow Fever malaria and other diseases are prevalenr in Liberia and organshyisms carrying rhese diseases are easily [[ansporred by air The Air Transpon Command operares a large airbase rhrough which planes bound for Brazi l and the United Stares pass Pan-American Airways have a seaplane base from which aircraft to and from che United Stares operate T he elimination of disshyeases which can be carried by air is of immediate conceen to (his Government and likewise ro (he Brasilian Governmenr) and the Mission has undertaken such wock as an important part of irs program38
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
GtCW noted further the presence of American Negro troops srarinned in Liberia in compliance with a Defense Agreement negotiated wi th Liberia The USPHSM WJS charged with the prevention of diseases in places near the military base that the troOps frequenred on local leave Since rhe Liberian government lacked both money and skilled medical technicians Grew reported the Mission had ro provide safe water supply ro borh Monrovia and ro hospital fac ilities Grew reviewed next the legislative hismry of the Mission in Liberia This proposal ohtained (he strong support of the late Preside nt Roosevelti n a memorandum addressed to General Watson on Februshyary 4 1944 he srared I think we should do every thing possib le ro improve health conditions in Liberia T his should be taken up with the War Department and the State
h f h GrewDepartmenr and Lend-Lease I shou ld Irke to ave a reporr ate progress noted further that the program was submitted ro the Public H ealth Service with prishymary support from the State Department with the idea of srrengchening the US linkshyages with Liberia that the War Deparrment suppo rted the milirary interest in Liberia and chat the Mission presence was needed to suppOrt the milirary The State Depanshyment G rew ended wanted the USPHS program continued Presideor HarryTruman included ch e USPHSM in his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to develop ing countries and funded the program with a budger of about $300000
In spite of the USPHSM assistance the Libetian governmeor continued ro neglect its own healrh infrastructural development in Monrovia and in the nation Dr Joseph Naga Togba (1915-2002 MD MPH FACP FWACP) who was of Kru ethnic descent the prime agent of changed He had departed Montovia on a row boat whIch took passengers out ro rhe wai[ing ships at sea for medical st udies in the US in 1937 He graduated from che Negro Meharry School of Medicine ar Nashville Tennessee in 1944 completed residency at che Negro Homer G Phillips Hospital-St louIS Missouri ) and upon acceptance of an in vitation co work for the Liberian government he returned ro Monrovia in February 1946 and wrote iu his autobiography
I was surprise to find [in 1946J rJ1ar conditions were abour the same as when I left in 1937 There was no port we had to travel to sho re by row boat ftom the ship which anchored out at sea The streers were still unpaved there was no elecrriciry or running water The paved only area in che enrire capiral ciry was the block facing the Executive Ma nsion T here was no public radio no public means of transportation not even a taxi I arrived with an automatic Oldsmobile the first auromatic car in Liberia
Togba reported further the existence of onl y eweve physicialls in Liberia upon his arrival and not one Liberian until he became a member of rhe group In 1946 he became Physician to the Liberlan Government which gave him direct access ro the most powerful decision-makers namely Ptesident Wi lliam VS Tubman He learned what public health meant to the Liberian government upo n his appointlllent as Acting Ditecto t of che Bureau of Public Heal th and Saniration Monrovia Liberia in 1947
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
52 ADELL PATTON
I soon observed chac public healch as practiced in Liberia simply applied to Monrovia and its environs The work of Public HeaJth was a matter of going along the streets ro the homes of prominent officials in the Cabiner Legislashyture and Judiciary The grass and dirt around their homes were to be cleared Garbage and dirr were not [Q be seen in certain places in Monrovia or else the Public Health was to taken to cask As head of Public Healrh I changed things around I lec che President know that Public Health applied to all parts of Liberia and all tesidents of Liberia President Tubman agreed wirh whatever I recommended for the expansions of the services throughout (he coumry decided ro conduct a nation-wide survey The President gave me permission
to survey rhe counery He notified (he various Superintendents of counties
and Disnic[S CommissionersThere were few roads and still few airstrips for small planes to land The government had a DC 3 aitplane which could fly only to the capitals of cereain counties We traveled first to Cape Palmas Maryland Counry the home of President Tubman
In 1948 until 1953 Dr Togba served as DirectOr Bureau of Public HeaJth and Sanitation and began new initiatives in sanitation reform
Dr Togbas three rapid appointments (I946 1947 1948) in the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation occurred at a most propitious time Dr West Direcm[ of
USPHSM had already conducted a study fot pipe-borne water and sewage disposal in 1945 The engineering work of the Mission began in that year A copographic survey of Monrovia and its surroundi ngs was conducted as preparatory planning for a city
water supply and the proposed port This work resulted in a topographical map of the area and a second survey was made to determine the best source of water for the proposed municipal supply The water courses near were tidal and contained salt
water (he exception being at rhe upper extremities 42 Background information showed mat in me rainy season fresh water repeatedly forced its way down (Q points near (he
ocean Monrovia was elevated from 10 feet above sea level along [he lower extremities
co 90 feet on Ashmun Screet and co 250 acop Mamba Point After investigations the St Paul River at Harrisburg--fifteen miles from Monrovia-was selected An additional ropographic survey produced a map of the right-of-way for rhe water main from Harrisburg to Monrovia This wotk was done in 1946 The teport was then forwarded to Washington for furrher anion 44
In 21 Januaty 1947 the Liberian government inherited rhe Mission reporr The govetrunent responded by issuing a MEMORANDUM OF THE GOVERNMENf OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING OF A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA rhrough its ConsulateshyGeneral Office in New York City The purpose was to raised the money to cover development cost and conversarions of support with the US government were ongoshying The MEMORANDUM floted that the US government had aucl10rized its Public
53LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
Health Mission in Liberia to conduct surveys to determined source and COStS for thc installation of such a system45
The Liberian government estimated the cost of the project to be $133000000 and sought to secure credit for this amount on rhe following condit ions
1 Requests the Import Export Bank US A To advance the above sum on credit to rhe Government of Liberia
2 A reasonable term be allowed for the amortization of same
3 A minimun imeres[ be charged in view of the fact that sa id credit is for an essential public uriliry
4 Tbat said utility be operated by a Company to be organised for that purshypose
5 The annual amount of the principal and interest to be amortised from the amounts received from the rate payments by consumers after operating
expenses are allowed and in case of a deficiency in any given year of the amount of the rate payments TO meer rhe principle and interest amonization payments the government of Liberia will underwri te said deficiency46
Negotiations moved sLowly but Libetia was now commined to improving municishy
pal bealth conditions with a supporting cast of medicaJ professionals As one may recall Dr Wesr of the USPHSM initiated a modem sanitation system
for Liberia as early as 1944 Overtime the Liberian government commissioned me
Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York Ciry to survey and draw up a repon on the matter fot Monrovia which was conducted in rhe dty season of 1947-1948 The bull financing of rhe installation got uflderway in 1949 Dr John B We resigned his post in 1947 as Directot USPHSM7 The Export-Import Bank signed off on the agreeshyment on 11 July 195 1 with a credit line of $1350000 co assist the Unilaquod States and Libetia [with] the costs of equipment materials and services required for the conshystruction of a water supply and sewage system The West African Constructors and
the Liberian government signed a conttact for the construction of the water supply sanitary system for $86556450 Without this consrruction Monrovia was becoming unbearable because of population growth In teview from 1947 the population at Monrovia was about 10000 and rose to an estimated 17000 in 1953 Tbe demand for rubber new harbor and dock facilities created activities tbat had swelled the popushylation Europeans and Americans lived in residents of foreign types with septic tanks The rest of the population lived in native hut villages scattered through rhe city Some houses coneain led] ceptic tanks bur foul-smelling outhouses are [were] most abunshydant Frequendy unsanitary maner is removed from the huts and houses and deposshy
ited on the ground a shorr distance away Cholera dysenrary and other imestinltll disorders are [were] not uncommonlti8
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
55LIBERIA AND CONTAlNMENT POLICY54 ADELL PATTON
Dr West selected Dr Hildrus A Poindextor (1902-1 987) as his replacement in 1947 Poindexter had the suppOrt of Dr George W Harley (MD) head of the inteshyrior Ganca Methodist Mission and who had been in Liberia in 1925 49 Poindexter graduated from Lincoln Univetsiry-Pennsylvania Cum Laud in 1924 He went first [Q
Dartmouth Medical School in 1925-27 but received the MD from Harvard Univershysiry Medical School in 1929 with certification in tropical medicine He enrolled in such courses as Medical Zoology and Tropical Medicine Helminthology Protozology Troplcal Entomology Tropical Infectious Diseases and students were requited to read the seties Tropical Diseases Africa written by the Harvard Medical Schools twO year African expedition As one might recall the Harvard Universiry Expedition came to
Liberia in 1926-1927 at the time of Poindexters matriculation T hrough a combined residency of graduate studies and pathology in internship at Columbia Universiry and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation General Educati on Boatd Fellowship he received the AM in Bacteriology in 1930 the PhD in Bacteriology and Parasitology 111 1932 and the MSPH in Public Health in 1932 Poindexter worked at Howard Universiry from 1931 -1 943 and by 1935 he was promoted to professor Head of the Departmem and Consultant in bacteriology and immunoJogy co Howards medical teaching center the Freedmens Hospital In 20 January 1947 Poindexter began active dury with the United States Public Health Mission (USPHM) in Liberia at the rate of $9000 per annum as Senior Surgeon with the direct approval of President Harry Truman who by this time had made the USPHM his Point Four Foreign Service Mission Assistance Program to developing counuies Poindexter became the Direcm[ of USPHM in November 1948 with a working budget of $300000 an expetimental laboratory and tOving clinics50 Since he had become a Master Mason in 1922 he was able to integrate himself very quickly into Liberian sociery through mem bership into the Liberian Free Masonic In$[irution Of Mosr Venerable Order Of The Knighthood btought over by the settlers in the 1840s The Brotherhood was a powerful and exclushysionary order only Liberias upper class belonged and whete mobiliry was determined and where the one-parry srate of the True Whig Parry made the major decisions effectshying (he Liberian government and peoples 51 Poindexter however wasted no rime in (he rendering of his medical and scientific expertise to Liberia While staying away from Flrestone because of irs segregared fucili ties his independent thinking and apparent aggressiveness seemed to have brought him into direct conflict with Dr Togba who makes nwnero us references to assistance that he received from the USHPSM but omits Poindexter in his autobiography In the meantime Poindexter omits Togba from his autobiography but left a papet trail in his collection on deposit at Howard Universiry Was the brief conflict linked to the Harvard Universiry Medical School vs Mehatry Medical School and Togbas in ternational visibiliry in the World Health Orgainzation Dr Togba had approached Dr Poindexter apparently on occasions about medical assistance for Liberia through Howard Universiry and in each instance Poindexter recommended to Togba that he should seek aid through Harvard Universiry rather
than Howard Physicians and politicians in Liberia apparemly had reminded Togb at the same rime that could never make it at Harvard [to study for the MPH which he received in 1949J because I had gone to a Black medical scllool While he did go nn to study Public Health at Harvard in 1948 he did so with a fitst time scholarship from the government and by a rejection of the one offered by the USPHSM then hClded hy Poindexter at Tubmans advice As one recalls Tubman had also appointed Tngba as Director of Public health and Sanitation (PHampS)in the same year Tension began to rise between the two health organizations-USPHSM and PHampS) over medical jurisdiction and berween Uranus and Gaea-the twO medical titans Togba was no longer the upcountry Kru boy of Sasstown-a prescriptive usage of elite setder deshyscendants for imerior peoples and Poindexter was about (Q find this out [QQ
On 7 November 195 1 Dr Togba began to exen the power of his office and wrote the following leuer on offlcial letterhead
Dear Col Poindexrer
Since June 1951 the Mission of Public Health which you head should have been directly placed under the Bureau of Public Health sanitation RL and is no longer a separate entiry but I observe that you still direct your monthly teportS to the Surgeon General of the US Public Healdl Service USA with a copy to the Bureau of Public Health and Sanitation through the Amerishycan Embassy This practice is nor agreeable with the Liberian Government and it is required that all future reportS be directed to the Director of Public Health and Sanitation and directed to the Bureau inStead of thtough Diploshymatic channel [copied to His excellency the Secretary of State RL]
Poindexcer responded [he next day on 8 November 1951 in longhand with the name Togba scratched through and written again below if
Dear Dr Togba
Your lerrerin fact state (hat the Liberian governmelH fo und it nOt agreeable to the practice of submining reports on our operations to the surgeon general of the US Public Health Service USA These reportS to which you refer are technical repons on operations your governmem approved between [he 2 of us and policy reports or subjective reporrs in which the can tents are coneroshyversial You always teceive copies of these reports for [yourJ information and I am always ready to [agree ro anyJ merhod designed ro correct any public [statemene containingJ defects supported by corrections in these reports If there is a Liberian regulation which is violated by my sending a report to a surgeon general by whose service 1 am empl oyed please send me thar regulashy
tion so mat I may read it
Yours Very Truly Hildtous A Poindexter
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
56 57 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATION
Shortly thereafter Togba rook up a another vexing issue mixed with gender to
Poindexter in a letter of 21 November 195 1
Dear Co l H A Poindexrer
Until such time that female technicians would be willing to accept along with the male out-stacion assignments you are to refrain from having female students technicians as the governmenr is imeresred in using all technicians in the genshyeral trained land] in the general nation-wide health program The two young ladies who are in your graduating class Like others therefore trained are not agreeable to Qut-station assignments therefore do not accept any application rrom any female student until you are advised by us to do so
Togba signed off with his signature and posicion There is no extant reply known to
the author Poindexter thought of another way ro ease the tension between himself and Togba He recommended highly Togba to the Liberian Free Masonic Ordet and Togba was accepred for membership in this exclusive institution Togba wrote Poindexter a kind letter of thanks Bur Poindexter went on ro co nduct outstandin g laboratory research in the USPHSM Faciliry on diseases useful in imptoving the health of Liberians and the world He had published A Laboratory Epidemiology Study of Certain Infecshytious Diseases in Libetia The American Journal OfTropical Medicine Vol 294 Ouly 1949) 435-442 and in the sa me journal Epidemiological Survey Among the Gola Tribe In Liberia Vol 4 (1953)30-3B only to name a few of his many pubGcations
Poindexter continued in the USPHSM tradition and conducted nunlerous field investigative ass ignments in the interior chat led ro the reduction of epidemics
Prior ro 1946 the records show repeatcd epidemics of smallpox at 5-10 year imervals with a high conti nu os prevalence in the hinretland of West Africa The Uni(td Sta[es Public Health Service Mission in Liberia became actively involved in rhe 1946-1947 ou tbreaks The writer saw 42 cases of smallpox disease in rhe hinrerland villages wirhin one day with three deaths during the night Smallpox disease was so rampant in certa in villagesmiddot thar one could observe children who were four feet tall but children who were rhree feet tall bur no children in ber-wecn and rhe people would say thar was rhe year that the epidemic came and all the babies died causing the gap in rhe heighr of rhe children Iocally rrained vaccinacors undercook to vaccinare rhe entire popularion of Liberia against smallpox in 1946-194B A 1950-1952 study of records showed less man one dozen cases reponed for the enrire coun try55
The public health sYStem of Liberia had made progressive strides since 1945 undet both the USPHSM and Libe ria medical professiona ls
Nevertheless public healrh innovarions continued on several orher fronts in rhe carly 1950s T he dedication ceremonies of rhe Liberian Institure Of The American Foundarion For Tropical Medicine occurted on II January 1952 ar Harbcl Liberia
DjlJni(aries were numerOUS (hat included Presidenr Tubman and representatives of a some fife) American pharmaceuticals chemical oil other company rypes of conrnbushyrurs and physicians The facility naturally had a main laborarory working wings 3dminisrr3tive section animal and service buildings bedrooms and staff hOllses togerher WiUl Liberian staff quarters6 Dr Togba who was menrioned earlier and a member of rhe old guardofLiberian pioneer physicians was a member of theAFTMU Board of Direcrors in 952 As a founding signatory member of WHO Togba globalshyized Liberias medical needs and had access to funding agencies beneficial to the counshy
try Dr Poindextet was a member of the AFTMLI Board of Direcrors The new US diplomatic upgrade for the America n Embassy occu rred at time that
wroughr renewed public health dividends to Liberia The existing US diplomatic conshysul-corps in Liberia was raised from Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotenshyriary ro Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on O crober IB 194B Attorshyney Edward R Dudley a non-career appointee and NAACP Legal Defense Fund memshyber in New York City became the first African Ame rica n Ambassador in the history of rhe US Foreign Service during the Cold Wa r era The US al ignment wirh Liberia served the US interesrs in the East-West rivalry in West Africa as a pOSt [Q monitor any
left leaning African activity Liberia who had purposefully delayed the development of public health control
measures of disease in order to discourage colonial designs on its soveteignry and who never had an imegrated water and sewage system reversed its fony-one years of resis~ rance in 1952 Financed by The Export-Import Bank of New York construction began at Monrovia of irs first water and sewage lines The water distribution lines was bullcomplered in June-July 1953 and the sanirary sewage system was completed in Sepshytember-Ocrober 1953 at Monrovia Public drinking founrains and latrines were disshypcrsed allover Monrovia Until rhis rime in 1953 the people drank mostly contamishynated water in the wer season (200 of annual rainfall in Monrovia) in the dry season trucks hauled warer inro rhe city from Duport and from rhe POrt of Monrovia People rook water from open dirches and creeks which were also used for washing clothes and for orher personal needs The US Navy had developed in the city twO wells in rhe US Public H ealth Compound and twO private water systems but rhis was all The new engineering feae improved these conditions in Monrovia based on the Liberian govshyernment commissioned surveys of the Malcolm Pirnie Engineers Of New York conshy
ducted in rhe dry season of 1947-1948 In 1953 it was proposed rhat the new water and sewage syste ms be placed undcr
r~e management and operation charges of an independent company The sources of the warer supply for the city were two underground lakes located on Bushrod Island and augmented by pumping warer from the Sr Paul River Water treatment was crushycial At Bushrod Island the warer is chloride ro 3 ro 5 partS per million residual chloride No other chemicals are added ro rhe warer Details were added to pumping ule water rhrough 18200 feer [rrough] a 16 inch pipeline ro the Mesurado River
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
58 59 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY ADELL PATTON
bridge by two Smithway Deepweil Pumps of 700 gallons per minute capacity for each From th is point water may be distr ibured directly th rough the distriburion grid or may be carried by 12 pipe in ra a 600000 gal lon reinforced concrete teservoir atop Mamba point All of rhe pipe rhroughout the sysrem is cement lined cas t iron pipe The size of rhe pipe in the disuibution grid ranges from 4 12 Watet pressure will range from 30 to 90 Ibs per square inch duoughout the sysrem There would be forry fire oudees twenty-six public fou ntains and twenty-six public latrines borh were to be locared near village hues as possible T he company was responsible for making the taps billing rhe customers collection of bills and supervision of the system and insralshylarions Each person who have raps between rhe ages of sixreen to sixty was levied a varer tax of $200 A S(Qrm drainage was under construction as each saeer was paved but separate from [he sewage system T he govewmem wowd receive excess revenucs
T he new public healrh measures thar foreigners soughr and loss for rhemselves over a forty-one year per iod begin ning in 1912 paid healrh dividends to Liberians of Monrovia in 1953 T he US Ambassador Dudley summed up rhe benefies to the Deparrment of Stare on 7 M ay 1953
The establishment of a modern water system on Monrovia wi ll make the city a much more healthful and desirable place in which to live Ir will be more healrhful beca use of rhe reduction of cholera dysentery and orher intestinal ordets due to polshyluted Water H ook worms and orher parasires should be markedly reduced byemployshying better me th ods of disposing human excreta and ocher wastes Marshy areas w hich
breed mosquiros and orher larvae will be greatly reduced Foul odors from outhouses which cause nausea and gene ral discomfort should be considerably reduced T hese unhealthy cond itions which now efTect the efficiency of the people all add up to econo mic costs by loss in wealth produced co the entire communicy
House construction COS tS can be red uced by the elimination of constructio n of huge watet storage ranks septic tanks and the installion of water pumps M uch labor chac was ordinarily employed in rransporr of warer can now be diverred co other channels
For the (native popularion of Monrovia [he installa[ion of the water system with public warer and toilet faciliries available wirhout charge (excepr $200 Water Tax) will probably be rhe gteateslt social and economic benefit which this segment of rhe popushylation has ever received other than the public health facilities Politically these public waret and toilet fac ilities will add much to rhe enrrenchment of the present adminisshytration The convenience of a modern water supply sys tem and the positive assurance of watet will enhance considerably rhe ordinaty ameni ties of li fe for the Liberian people
Ambassador Dudley qualified his premise by acknowledging his debr to consulrshyanrs Dr George Adams Pathologist USPHS in Liber ia Mr John Neave C ivi l Engishyneer H azen and Sawyer Engineering Associates and Mr William Reynolds C ivil engineer Liberian Governmenr Ambassador Dudley and Dr Po indexter who had
served Liberia with distinction departed Libetia for the US in 1953 Dr Togba conshytinued hi s work as Liberian delegate and founding membet of the World Health Orgashynization wh ere he became rhe President 1 World Assembly Geneva Swiwrland
1954-1 955
Conclusion The central rhesis of this paper is that the Liherian gove rnment intentionall) develshy
oped contain ment strategies rhar delayed appropriate control public healdl measures in order to Stave-ofT foreign settlers from 191 2-1 953 Liberians felt th ar improved publ ic heahh and sanirac10n reform would make meir nacion at([active to foreigners who shared a histOry of rhreats [Q Liberian sovereignty The containmem srrategi es of hisrary were fourfold First Wesr Africa was deemed the White Mans Grave in rhe 1850s because of its diseased environs and high mortali ty rates to Europeans This undesirable image kept West African coumries from becoming true empires umil new medicinal prophylactics reduced the morbidity and mortal ity rates for Europeans in the 1880s which paved the way for partition in 1884- 1885 and colonial rake-Ovet of Africa hy 1900 As an independent republic since 1847 and neighbors to these tJJtering cQunuies co true empire me Liberian government underscood the need of mainraining its nineteenth century image of a disease environ that was carried over inra the twentieth century The French and rhe British had already seized some Liberian [erritoty and threats to cake more terri cory were constant reminders Hence Liherians res isted saniratio n reform at rhe urging of the West in 1912 1929 and well past WWII Secondly Liberian tesistance prevented the emergence of intraprofessional conshy bullAict between whire and African physicians in the heal rh profession rhar had come so dominant among irs Anglophone colonial neighbors African doctors for example were placed on a separate registrar or Color Bar from their European councerparts Hence intraprofessional cooperation- not inrraprofessional conflict-governed me health profession in independent Liberia T hitdly thar rhe Liberian governmen t beshygan rhe relaxation of its containment policy of public healrh and sanitarian teform was due co several factors rhe WWT presence of rhe US armed services H ospital Unit Medical Se rvice ( H UMEDS) in Liberia in 1942 the US President Franklin D Roosevelrs visir to Liberia in 1943 and the United States Public Healrh Service Misshysion (USPHSM)) to Liberia in 1944 T he pUtpose of rhe M iss ion was to prorect de hcalth of rhe troops in rhe war time efiorrs and to control rhe dissemination of diseases from Liberia abroad Dr John B Wesr (MD) Director USPHSM from 1944-1947 Dr Hildrus A PoindeXtet (MD) Director USPHSM from 1948-1953 and Liberian Dr Joseph Naba Togba (MD) from 1946 unci 1990 in various capacities were rhe medical tirans who pioneered reforms of public health policy In agreement with Liberian government and its new Open-Door policy of 1944 to allow foreign comshypanies and sun dry enumiddoties rhe USPHSM and Firestone rubber initiated public health and san itation reform rhrough experimental laborarories and roving clinics in ro [he
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
60 61 LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICYADELL PATTON
mtenor Liberian Insricu[c Of The American Foundation For Tropical M edicine
(AFTMU) open it doors on II January 1952 at H arbe Libetia M ore imporrancly the pipe-borne water and sewage development in Monrovia reduced diseases for all concerned in 1953 onward and se t rhe m odel for wh at cou ld be don e beyond
Monrovia T hereafrer Liberia was laden with a new gen eration of physicians and health
professionals that rook charge and administered the next phase of m odalites in public health for the narion Fourrhly (he Africanizarion of policies in colo nial territoriesshythe Rassemblement D emocrarique Africain (RDA) in French terrirories and the
Convention Peoples Parry in the British Gold Coast--quickened Liberian optimism
that colonial rule was soon co be replaced by independent African countries who would foster no designs of a uberian Take-Over Afrer all and little known ro writshy
ten nisrory anti-colonial radicals owed tne Liberian government for allowing irs nashytion to serve as a safe-haven of asylum for chern and for issuing to them visas for travel
abroad in preparation for another round in the independence Struggl e
Endnotes
I A Research Board Award (RBA) through (he Universicy o f M issouri System and (he Department of Hisrory at the Universiry of Missou ri-SL Lonis (UMSL) fu nded (h is project in 2000 (0 (he UK Liberia West Africa and ro The National Archives-II College Park Md National Archives- U wi henceforrh appear with RG numbers and tide UK sources appear as PROFO I express thanks to the RBA Comminee and the usual disclaimer
1 K David Panerson Disease and Med icine in African HistOry Hisrory in Africa Vol 1 I (1974) 14 1-148 Gerald W Hartwig and K David Panerson eds DJmiddotsease~ ill African Hisrory Durham D uke Universiry Press 1978 pp4 ) 4-19
2 Peter Duignan and L H Ga nn The Unired Srares And Africa A Hisrory Londo n Cambridge University Press And Hoover Institu re 1984p80-90 11 7
3 The benevolenr reason fo r coloni7a tjon must be qual ified and re-assessed in American hismriogshyrap hy The benevo lent reason for colonizarion appears in the ACS bylaws of )81 6 Washington Oc and re-srued again by Presidem William V S Tubman ( J 895- 1971) in a leerer o f November 8 1956 to Charles J Symington Chairman of rhe Board The Symingwl1-Gould Corporation New York C ity Tubman began with the following opening SCHemem My dear M r Symingto n Liberia was founded by American benevo lence through a philanthropic institution known as the American Colonizarion Sociery which gave assistance d uring tbe early stages o f the exiscence of the country This lercer appears in the popular edicions ofWayne Chatfield Taylor Unired Srares Business Performance Abroad The CaseSrudyofTbe Firesrone OperJrions in Liber1 (New York Na tjona l Planning Associacion 1959) and read by so many people employed by the us Oepart~ men r of Scate and sundry See African Reposirory and Colonial Journal Vol XXXI -4 (Ap ril 1 855) I 86 From the Liberi a Herald Jan 17 1855 on benevolent This musl be quali rled (or pedagogical reasons in US hisrory This rebu ttal can be illuStrated in review of a rcsolurion advanced by M r Zaccheus Colli ns Lee o f 1836 before T he Americm Socier) For Colonizing the Free people of Colour meering al Baltimore Maryland with alarm and anxiety the rapid spread of an anomalous fr(e black population ca rryi ng wich them a train of evils Lfa r rhey are slaves wi thout nlasters and bound to rhose around (hem by no ies of sympathy or consanguinj ry To melio rate rherefore the conditio n of this prostra ce and ourcute race-and to give (hem rhe frui ts of liberty ro afford i ll (he next place securi ty ro rhe
slaveowners and resignarion of the slaves by removing fmm rhem (he example and influence of this rree black population acting direc rly hy their corrupring influence on the feel ings and pli~iOn5
of the slaves
The report [for example] JUSt read informs lIS that wea lthy Planrers of that SecOO Ll I~he SOlH~ll have already manumitted their slaves fo r the purpose of conveying thro ugh the means of [hiS society to Liberia (Wen Africa] while orheIS are faS( yield ing their prejudices and becoming friends aud patrons o f [he Colonlzation scheme The white and black races cannot exist and prosper wgether This is not rh e black mans counrry we propose raking him to his narive soil where he
may flourish amI be respected
Thi~ is a whi te ma ns ho me Lee us labor therefo re [Q remOve from ir now by mild and bencvolem meanS rhe black man before rhe conquerors sword shall as it mUST demoy and over whelm him The Lee resolmion was adopted and through time (he free people of color- mosdy som and
daugh ters who were descendams from white fathers and Afikan ~orh e s-wer~ on ehei r way to Liberil [Q (he La nd o f Ham as heralded by missionaries of the ([mes The o rigins of nonmiddot benevolent sentiments expressed in the L~ Resolu tion might be Lnked [Q the comparative demographics ofwhites see Stephen J Whitfield A Deach In rile Delra The Srory ofEmmerc Till (Baltimore the John Hopkins University Press 1988) Chapter 1 The Ideology of Lynching I Whitfield cites the comparative historian Carl Degler who naced that since the South was JOCHed outside of the Hopics the Sourh became rhe only slave society in the Wesrern Hemi~ phere in which whites ournumbered blacks The West Indi es Bruit and other places in Latin America attracted relarively fewer serders and even fewer white women 311d the res ultant imbalance crea ted demograp hic presltnre toward incerracial sexual relations and marriage Wirhout simila r i~ce l~ivcs [0 cushio n the shock of rhe predominance of so lJl any Africans brought in bondage whites In dIe American South were more free to develop an ideology char underscored [heif own superiori ry and
hat imposed rigid ba rriers separating them from black Land ~~ separate hi~to ries in th~ United Slates] On emigrants leaving the US A and in response [Q CrilICISm rhe ACS dunged us name [0
the American Colonizatio n Sociery in 1826 see George W Brown The Economic Hisrory ofLiheri1 (Washingmo D C The Associafed Puhlishers Inc 194 1) 235 Antonio McDaniel Swing l ow SweerCharior The MortalifyCos( ofColonizing in die Ninereenrh Cenrury (Chicago Universiry of
Chicago Press 1995) 23 61 and James Fairhead Tim Geys beek Svend Hol~~ Mdissa ~eadl eds Afri(an-Anlerican Exploracions in Wesl AfricaFour NinereenrhmiddotCenruryD lano (B1oommgron
indima University Press 2003) 7-30 4 For Jim C row see C Vann Woodward TheScrange Career ofim Crow (New York 1955) S The Declaration Of Independence and the ConSTiTution of the Repnbl ic o f Uberia as amended
through May 1955 (The Svend E Holsoe Liberia Archives Collecti on Archives ofTradirional Music Indiana Unjversiry-B loomingfOn) Brown The Economic HisroryofUberia pp 245-257 the
prohibitive clause of non-citizens owning land stems from [he ACS DIGEST OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE IN T HE COLONY O F LIBERIA AUGUST 19 1824 See Brown hlw
number 17241 6 Mah mood Mamdani Citizen and Subjecc ConremporaryAfrica mdThe lLgacyofLare Coloniaism
(Princemn Princeton Universiry Press 1996 7 James C Young Liberia RedistOv(((d (New York Doubleday Doran amp ~mpany lnc 1 9~ i pp
179-180 Edwald S Ayens o Medicinal Planrs of Wesr Africa (Algonac M1 Rcfcrcme Publicmiddot
tions inc 1978) Richard M Fox Tribal Med icine In Liberia Carnegie Magazine Vol 35-36 February 1961)4 1-47 D Elwood Dunn AmosJ Beyan Carl Patrick Burrowes eds Hisrorica Diceionary Of Liberia Second Edi(ion 83 (Lanham The Scarecrow Press Inc 2001) pp 286shy
8
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
62 63 ADELL PATTON LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
8 The African Repulgtlic ofLiberia And (he Belgian Congo H arvard Africat Expedirion 1926-1921 Edi[ed By Richard P Srrong( Cambridge Harvard Univecsiry Press 1930 pp 199-200
9 Adell Parlon Jr H oward Universicy and Meharry Med ica l SdlOOls in the Training of African Physicians 1868-1978 In Joseph E Harris ed Global Dimensions ofrhe Africa)) Ditlfpora (Wa~hillglOn DC 19R2 fusr edition) pp 142-162
10 Young Liberia Rediscovered pp179- J80
I 1 Th e African RepublicofLigteria And he Belgian Congo HJrvard African poundCperiirion 1926-1927 pp199-200 on Weh rle at Fires rone and other medical personnel see PROFO 371 18042 Ourbreak ofSmalpm in Liberia 21 August 1934 PROFO 37 1 23394 uading Personalities in Liberia July 1939
12 Neely Tncker Cenw rys first genocide in M rica by Germ ans- BEFORE HOLOCAUST came 04
war Arkansas DemocrarmiddotCazctte Sunday Ap ril 5 1998 A Section3 see Dr Eugen Fischer Rasse und Rassenenrsrdwng beim MensdJet1 (Berlin UlIsrein J927) and for th e role that blood and race
played in the German nation see Adolf Hider(Facto only emered prison April 1 1924 MeiolGmpf (1924 German edjtion 1939 erc) rranslated by Ralp h Manheim (943) in AJJan P Grimes and
Raben H H orwitz Modem PoJiricll Ideologies (New Yo rk Oxfo rd Universiry Press 1959) pp444 448 Dr Wherles Nazi-oriemation broughc him infO direcr conflict with rhe Liberian governmelll in WWI I At rhe end o( May 1942 the Liberian governmem ordered Dr Wehrle to leave the co unuy and by June rhe other (Wenry Germans left and in November the German Consul and staff departed In ret rospen the German cOfllingenr requires fuuher elaborarion regarding pseudoshyscientifIc racl~m in Liberia It is posculated here mac Dr Wehrle had already read his compatriors book by Dr Eugene Fischer- a prominem German scientist- titled The Principals ofHum1n Herediry and Race Hygiene (I 927) This public1tion ca me long after Dr Fischers Ocrober 4 1904 eyewirness to lhe cenrurys firs( Holocausr o( (he H erero in Somhwest Africa today Na mibia As one recalls LL General lothar Vo n Trotha ordered the extermination (Auswissungsbefehl) of the Herera who died in che rens o f thousands H e ordered rhe poisoning of the weUs in che sandveld and surrounding the Herero wi th a 150 mile line German gua rd-pom fO prevent their escape As maHers rurned Out in Soulhwesr Africa Fisher observed and ana lyzed mixed raced children who were the offsprings of German and African women In denial of rheir agnaric side of paterni ry he repo ned cha t rhese children were inferior (Q German child ren W hile in pri son wriring Mein Kampf ( 1923 German ed irio n 1939) Hider read Fisehers book which became the raison d em for his race th eories agai nsr rhe Jews
13 RG 5925015882322 Box 21 15 W T Francis Legation of The US A Monrov ia liberia To The Secretltlry of State (ashingcon DC February 27 1929 Yellow Fever Frallcis March 20192915882323 Box 2715 RG 59 25015882322 Box 2115 Yellow Fever Franc April 17 1929 15882327 Box 27 15 and on Francis see Lester S Hyma n Unired Stares PoHcy To wrds Liberia J822 To 2003 Utlinrended Consequen(~middot Cherry Hi ll NJ M rkana Homestead Legacy Publishers 2003p 241
14 PROFO 371 15437 Anuual Report Liberia 1929-30 Confidemial see also Mljor C harles B West (MD an A(ricanAmerican) T he First Annual Report of the US Public Healrh Service Mission to liberia for (he Period Ending June 30 1945 Ameri can Lega lion Monrov ia Liberia November 29 1945 T he Fo reign Service ofThe Un ited Stares of America Depa rtmenl o( Scate January 211946 882 12IAJ IImiddot2945 NA II This documem provides rhe foundacion histo ry of the USHP$ che firsr personnel under LendmiddotLease a~signed from the O ffice of the Surgeon General of (he Uniced Stares Health Service to Liheria and health conditions in Monrovia-infant
morraliry a( 50 erc The US PHS began On March 2B 1944 and officers arrived in November 1944 O n dle ren most speci fic diseases see John B Wesr Unired Sta res Healrh Missions in liberia Public Healrh Reporrs Vol 6342 (Octohe( 15 1948)J 35 1middot 1364 The Harvard African
Explt-d ition of 1926 assumed chat irs reporr on heJhh condirions in Liberia was the first (see p 200 of rhe report endnote 22) which is nor accurare The firsr report was Report On The Med ical
Smislics OfT he Colony by D r HendersonACS Minuees of the Board of Managers (14 May
1832 273ff) c ired in McDaniel Swing Low Sweer Chario pp 153middot157 and The second repore Dr J W Luge nbeel Lare Coloni al Physician and US Agent in Liberia SkeTches ofJjberi~ A Brief Accounr ofThe Geogrnphy Climare Produccions And DisCJse orfhe Republic of-iileri (WashingronD C Alexander Primer 1850)
15 RG 59 882J24N78 Box 7008 Memorandum o f Agreement Ju ly 1930 11 RG 59 Box 100 18middotfDOI9 Special Sanitary Regulario ns 1929 and A Report On G~rrain Phase
OfTbe Public H eaJrh Situacion In Monrovia Liberia With Special Re(erence To Yellow Fever and IrConrrol hy H P Smith Surgeon U S P H $ 1910~20
17 RG 59 882 1 24A1128 Box 700B Repon on the Public Health Siruacion in Monrovia l)ecembcr
31 1930 18 Jo hn B Wesc Unired States Public Health Mission Public Healrh Reporrs Vo16342 (October
15 1948)1353-1 354 Clay ron L Thomas (MD M rH) ed 76laquo Cyclopedic Mediad [)ic(ionary Philadelphia F A Davis Company [1 940] 1978 Third Prin ting
19 RG 59 BH2 12A128 Box 700B A Resume ofThe EffortS Towards Sanitarion And Ydlow Fever Control 1) Liberia[Liberian government rr5istance to yel low fever con troll February 7 1931 RG
59 882 124N I09 111 11 4 11 5 Telegram Rcctived Dr Smirhs Depa rrure From Monrovia via Freerown December I 1930
20 RG 59 882124A1 124 Box 7008 S David Coleman to Mr C harge dAffaires (lener) US Depanmcut o f Sc3te December 261930 same RGBoxB82I2N78Memorandum Agreemem In Regard To Detail O( A Service O fficer For Sanitary Dury In Liberia December 301930
21 RG 59 882 124A 11 8 Box 7007 Samuel Rober Jr Sanitacio n Program and che work of rhe Chief Medica l Ad viser in Liberia Lega(ion Of The Uoieed Scares Of America Monrovia Liberia US Department o($rare December B 1930 The Garvey Movement was quire aerive in Monrovia and the coastal reaches in rhe 1920s and what appears here as anti-whire sentiment
may more appropriately stem from Garvey sympathiu rs of PanmiddotMricanism among the Americomiddot Liberian working cla ss See I K Sundiata Black Scandal America and rhe LilXrian L1bor Crisis 1929-1 936 (PhiJaddph ia Institute for the scudy o ( Human Issues 1980) pp lll116
22 Douglas M H aynes Imperial Medicine Parrick Manson and rhe Conquest oFTropical Disease (Philadelphia 2000 85middot124 On issues of seuler numbers and mo rtaUry in West M rica sec Phjjip D Currin The (hile Mans Grave image and Realiry Journal of British Srudies Vol 1 (961)94 110 and Currin The End of the White Mans Grave~ NiueteenrhmiddotCenrury MortalilY in West Mrio Tbe Journal ofInterdisciplinary H istory Vol XX11 (Summer 1990) 63-88 Tom W Shick (l 939~ J986) A Quanrj tarive analysis of Liberian colonization from 1820 to 1843 with
special referena to momliry Journal ofAftican Hisrory VolXII 1 (1971)48-49 and Shick amphold The Promise LlOd AfromiddotAmericHl Seccfers to Liberia in rhe Ninerlaquonrh Gcmury(Baltimore The Jo hns Hopkins Uni versiry Press 1980) Lamin Sanneh Abolirionisrs Aboard American Blacks and rhe Making ofModern Wesr Africa (Cambridge Harvard Universiry Press 1999) cires 5700 nCapciv(s rhat landed in Liberia which is hi gher rhan the Shick number in tex r bur no source fo r
(his number is cired p 214 2gt Adell Patton J r Physicians Colonial Racism and DiasporJ in Iesr AfriQ (Gainesville The
Un iversiry Press of Florida 1996) p3l
24 PROIFO 37 13292 Libi Dc Fuszek June 1918 15 ijeri3n Codeo(Llws ofJ956 Adopfed by rhe LegislafIJreofrhe Republic ofLibera March 22 1956
Published under Authority Of The Legislarure OfLiberja And President William VS Tubman Volume III Titles 27-37 (Ithaca New York Cornell Un iversiry Press 1957) The Library of Congress Law Library holds this document which list dle prior legisla cions of Medical Board qualifications of Liberian doc tors in 1927-1928 L ch XV 1936 L ch VI 1952~1951 L ch XXIV pp 1 109middot 111 3 it muse be noted rhar dle True Whig Parry had irs watershed heginning with Presidell( Anthony VI Gardiner 1878middot 1883 fo ur Republican Parry admiuistrationlaquo had governed
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a
64 65 ADELL PATTON
before chac from 1848middot1883 see Abeodu Bowen Jones The Republic of Liberia) F Ajayi and Michad Crowder eds HisroryoflYlesr AiTica VoL11 (London Longman 1974) pp340 3 14-343
26 PROFO 371 18042 Polish Mjssion ( 0 Uberiamiddot acrivicies oFDr Sajous 17 September 1934 27 PROFO 371 36355 Annual Report on Liberia 1942 28 PROFO 371 49339 Leading Personalities in Liberia 1945 n
Liberian Legislarive Act and Reso lution Honoring Mrs Chrisrine Schnittec 1970 The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law Universiry of Liberia AprilS 2000 (Fjeldnoces) Mrs Ittna Cooper (Liberian and widow of (he late Dr H Nehemiah Cooper BSe M D FACS FICS FWACS) Interviewed on November 1 1997 ar Colum bia Maryland (Fieldnores Cooper-Parton Liberian Medical His[ofY Collecrion)
29 PROFO 37115437 Porr Medic61 Arrangemenrs ar Monro via September 10t 193 1 PROFO 37123394 Africa (Gelll~r1J) Enclosure Record of Leading Personalities in Liberia Public Record O ffi ce London see George Way Harley Nacive African Medicine r7irh Speciv referencr co ics Praccice in che MfUJO Tribe ofLibcria (London Frank Cass amp Co l1 94 IJ [970) and of lesser quali ry see Werner Junge African jungle Docror (London Panther Edirion [195 2J 1956) For issues llnder discussion sec also D Elwood Dunn A Hism ry ofrhe Episcop61 Churdl in Liberia 1821middot1980 (Metuchen NJ The Scarecrow Press IIlC 199 2)
30 RG 111 390 Box 105 HUMEDS Liberia 1942 PROIFO 37 1 36355 Annual Reporr on Liberi a 1942 The Negro trOOps camped at the now fo rmer Pan Am Field The mess haJI cooked food could be smelled by locals nearby who named rheir vi ll age Smell No Tast It became Uni ty Town in 1980 For health and sanitarion matters see RG 59 88212NIImiddot2945 Box 7138 Major Charles B West (MD) The First Annual Report of me US Public Health Service Mission to Liberia fo r he Period Ending Junc 30 1945 American Legation Monrovia Liberia Deparrment of Srate November 29 1945
31 RG 59 250 88269748 Box 10038 3middotNlwspapers The Firesronc Non-Skid December 19253 Alfred Li eF The Firesrone Srory A Hisrory OfThe Fir~rone Tire amp Rubber Company (New York Whinesey pp53 324middot25 Wayne Chatfleld Taylor The Firesrone Operarions In Liberia (New York 1956) 52middot53 French A Conrinenr for rhe Taking 106
32 The American Foundation for Tropical M~djcin e and the Liberi an [nsrirurel Doctors Employed by The Liberian Government as of September I 1960 (The Svend Holsoe ColJeccion Indiana Universicymiddot Bloomingron)
33 RG 59 882 12A15- 145 CSEG Box 71 38 LI Col Johu B Wesr Monrhly Reporr Uuired Stares Health Public Health Service Mission May t 1945
34 RG 59 88212N5-1 245 CSIO US IHSM Heald Miions Launches Campaign To Kill MosquishytOs Monrovia Liheria May 12 1945
35 RG 59 882125-2645 Box 7138 Transmirting Report On Public Health Srvice Activities In Liberia For the Monch of April Monrovia Liberi a May 261 945 RG 59 882 I 2N5middot2245 Box 7138 same tide and due
36 RG 59 882 12N8-645 Box 7138 Public Health Reporr For June-1 945 August 6 1945 Monrovia Liberia RG 59 88212N1-1546 Box 7138 US Pllblic Health Service Micsiol1 Reporc for rhe momh of Novcmber1945 Monrov ia Liberi a January 15 1946
37 RG 59 88212A6-2645 Box 7118 Lener From Acting Secterary J o~eph c Grew To The Houorable Clarence Cannon Cha ir Committee on Approp ri ations House of Represenracives June 26 1945
38 RG 59 882 I 2A16-2645 Box 7 138 39 Joseph Nagbe Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle The AutObiography of
Joseph Nagbe Togl MD MPH FAPHA FWACP N d pp28 40 40 Togba How the Lord is Mighry A Dream In the Jungle T he Aurobiogcaphy ofJoseph Nagbe
Togbapp42 44
4 1 John B West United Scates Public Heahh Mission Public Heudt Reporrs VoL634 2 (Ocrober 15 1948) 1363
LIBERIA AND CONTAINMENT POLICY
42 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The EstablishmentS of A New Wncr And Sewage S~ tcm In Liberia Edward R Dudley AM EMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953
43 West Unired Srares Public Health Mission Public Htalch Rtporcs 1363 44 RC 59 88215111 -1147 Box 7138 MEMORANDUM OF T HE GOVERNMENT m THE
REPU BLI C O F LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCING O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA ConsuluemiddotGeneral of the Republic of Liberia New York Orr 112 147
45 RC 59 88215 111-1147 Box 7138 MEMORA NDUM O F THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUB LI C OF LIBERIA FOR THE FINANCI NG O F A WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF MONROVIA
46 Gcorge Way Harley Narive African Medicine Wirh Special Reference ro irs Pracrice in rhe MallO Tribe o(Liberia London Frank Cass amp Co LTD [1 94111 970
7 RC 59 87626145-753 Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Foreign Service Diparch The brab lishmenc Of A New Water And Sewage Sysrem In Liberia May 7 1953 Monrovia Libria
4k George Way Harley Na rive African Medicine 7ich Special Rd~renc~ ro irs Praccice in rhe MallO Tribe (Libera Lo ndon Frank Cas amp Co LID (J94 J] 1970
49 Hildrous A Poindex ter My Vorld ofReairy che Aucobiogcaphy o( Detroic Balamp Publishing 1973) pp44 57 75 8H-H9 322-313
50 Rrochure of rhe Ceremonies For The Institution O f The Most Ven~rable Order Of The Knighr hood of the Pionee rs OfThe Republic of Liberia Pioneers Day January Seven 1955 Cemennial Memorial Pavilion Monrovia Governmem Printing O ffice (NAmiddotlO NND 93306 Depanmcnt of Stare Bureau of Afrie n AfFirs Country Files 1951-1963 Box 13 on tbe powerfu l role of d l C
Masonic O rder and the areas of Liberia integrared infO ie see Stephen S Hlophe Class Erhniciry And Policies In liberiaA ClassAnalysis ofPowrr Srrugglo In rhe TubmlII and Tolherr Adminismlronf
From 1944middot 1973 (Lanham Unjversiry Press of Ame rica 1979) chapter 5 deals wi(h che Masonic Order and Gus J Libenow Liberia he evolurion ofprivilege (B1oomjngton Indiana Universiry Press (969)
51 Togba How (he Lord is Mighry A Dream In lhe Jungle T he Aurobiography ofJoseph Nagbe Togba p63
52 HiJdrus A Poilldex(er Papers Box 164-1 Folde r 3 Box 24 Moo rlandmiddotSpingarn Research Cemer Howard Universicy There are rhirryrrwo boxes in this colle([ion and [he author examil)ed [hem all in February 2000 including rhe correspondence on rhe Liherian Masonic O rder
53 Poindexcer Papers Box 164- 1 Folder 3 Box 24 54 PatTon Howard Universicy and Meharry Medical Schools in the TIaiuing of African Physicians
1868- 1978 p l42 55 The American Foundation for Tropical Medicine and the Liberian InsrinneDoctors Employed by
The Liberian Governme nt as ofseprember 1 1960 (Tbe Svend Holsoe Colleaion) 56 Hyman Unired Sroces Policy Tmvards Liberia 1822 To 2003 Unimended Consequences p242 57 RG 59 87626145-753 Box 7138 The Es tabljshmenrs of A New Water And Sewage System In
Liberia Edward R Dudley AMEMBASSY Monrovia May 7 1953 5S RG 59 87626145middot753 Box 7138 The EsIabJishmenLS of A New Wale r And Sewage System III
Liberi a