Chicago's War on Syphilis, 1937-1940: The Times, The Trib, and the Clap Doctor, with an Epilogue on Issues and Attitudes in the Time of AIDS
University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL 61820. 271.p., illus., bibliog., index. ISBN 0-252-02147-9. $42.50.
Suzanne Poirier. 1995.
Syphilis is a complex disease that goes through three stages with the first appearing during the first two to four weeks during which a chancre or hard-edged ulcer in the genital or oral area appears. The second stage includes extensive skin rashes and sometimes sore throat, fever, or hepatitis. The third stage or tertiary syphilis can occur years after the secondary stage and involves heart and nerve damage that ultimately causes death if untreated.
The Chicago Syphilis Control Program began January 18, 1937. This book is both a history and a rhetorical analysis of the problems that were faced with sexually transmitted diseases in the late 30s. "Syphilis as a killer, however, was a major image in the antisyphilis campaign of the 1930s, as was the image of syphilis as inherent in illicit sexual promiscuity-- and of promiscuity as inherently evil." Thus, the resemblance of the present day AIDS epidemic with all of its moral over- and undertones. Fear, moral judgment, and responsible action play a leading role in this book as they do in any book dealing with AIDS.
This is a book that will keep your attention. It includes the color of the times including the Tribune's effort to keep the public informed about a disease that many would only talk about behind closed doors. It provides an insight in how the "clap doctor", Ben Reitman, became a noted physician during this time. There are many issues brought out in this excellent book including mandatory testing, confidentiality, testing and insurance, sex education in schools, isolation and quarantine, relationships to class and race, statistical collection, prevention via mechanical or chemical means versus abstince, and the role of moral judgment. Reading the vivid accounts of how syphilis was fought will only strengthen the thoughts of those who are now fighting AIDS. The similarities are there with one exception, there is no vaccine, or medical treatment that will cure AIDS. People trying to write the history of the AIDS epidemic would do well to read this book and note that what is happening now has happened in the past with another disease.
This is an excellent book, one that will open your eyes to an era in Chicago that changed social life for everyone. A highly recommended book for all libraries.
951030
BK950426
Copyright © 1995 - The University of Illinois at Chicago. All materials in the journal are subject to copyright by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution, or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.
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