Published On: 10.03.17 | 

By: 9316

On this day in Alabama history: William Crawford Gorgas was born near Mobile

Oct 3 feature

William Crawford Gorgas, U.S. Surgeon General, 1914. (Photograph by Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

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.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.