October 3, 1854
U.S. Army physician William Crawford Gorgas was born in Toulminville near Mobile. After contracting a mild case of yellow fever at an army post in Texas, Gorgas became a leading figure in the field of public health and tropical medicine. He is best known for his work in Florida, Cuba and the Panama Canal to control the spread of yellow fever and malaria by mosquitos. He later served as the 22nd U.S. Army surgeon general during World War I. For his work, Gorgas received many honors and awards, including an honorary knighthood from King George V. He was inducted into the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame in 1989.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
William C. Gorgas, ca. 1856, posing for a portrait. The style of dress was typical for the time. Children, until five or six years of age, often were clothed in a unisex fashion in Western societies until the early twentieth century. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)
William Crawford Gorgas, c.1870. Gorgas graduated in 1875 from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, where his father, Josiah Gorgas, was headmaster. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)
William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920) was a physician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He fought yellow fever in Panama, contributing to the building of the Panama Canal, was elected president of the American Medical Association, and served as U.S. Army Surgeon General. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)
William C. Gorgas in uniform, c. 1893. Gorgas entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1880 as a first lieutenant. ((From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Specials Collections Library)
Gorgas Hospital, named for William Crawford Gorgas, in the former Panama Canal Zone. Panama City is visible in the background. (Richard Bryant, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Gorgas steam plant on the Black Warrior River; Walker County. The steam plant was named for Alabama native, William Crawford Gorgas. (Photograph by Jet Lowe, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.