The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

January, 1951 The Health Bulletin 13ground Dr. Cooper felt the call to devotehis life to public health just asgenuinely as any minister of religionever felt the call to preach the Gospelof Jesus Christ. To Dr. Cooper the desireto save human beings from diseaseand the prolongation of their lives wasa compelling force. To this cause hededicated his life.When the history of public health inNorth Carolina is written it will be essentiallya biography of George MarionCooper. Public health was in its infancywhen he entered the specialty. Duringthe long period of service with the StateBoard of Health he witnessed muchgrowth and expansion. Early successesin the effort to reduce the prevalenceof infectious diseases resulted in a growingappreciation of public health, increasesin appropriated fimds, additionalworkers were recruited, moreproblems were attacked and new programsdeveloped. In fair weather andfoul—his was a stablizing and wholesomeforce. In most successful endeavorshe was a guiding and sustaining influence.When mistakes were made andthings went wrong it was frequently becausehis advice was not sought or wasignored. Although North Carolina hascontributed many illustrious names tothe Honor Roll of PubUc Health, Dr.Cooper's long career in North Carolinacaused many throughout the nation toconsider him as "Mr. Public Health InNorth Carolina."There will probably be some disagreementin selecting Dr. Cooper's outstandingqualifications. To those who readhistory his ability to make long-rangeplans would probably be placed first.It would require much research work tolist all of the programs which werestarted by him. Three of his early campaignsdemonstrate the range of hisplanning. Take the tonsil-adenoid clinicfor instance, the initial objective was, ofcourse, Ito cure the trouble caused by diseasedtonsils and adenoids, but the longrangeeffect was to educate the peopleas to the value of competent adequatelytrained medical specialists. Most of theolder. Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat physiciansin the State appreciate the firmfoimdations of public confidence builtby Dr. Cooper's early clinics. The DentalProgram, started in 1918 while Dr.Cooper was directing the School Healthwork, resulted in Dr. Cooper's electionas an honorary member of the StateDental Society, and laid the foundationfor the formation of the Division ofOral Hygiene in 1931. The OrthopedicClinics organized by him have smoothedthe way for thousands of crippledchildren for years past and will offerhope for the crippled children of thefuture. It is no wonder that orthopedicsurgeons were among the first to suggesta suitable memorial to Dr. Cooper.As Editor of the Health Bulletin fornineteen years, he established the formatwhich has become recognized as asymbol of North Carolina's Health Program.While other State Boards ofHealth have considered it advisable tostreamline their publications or to makethem into picture magazines, the HealthBulletin has remained, and with thehelp of a kind Providence will remain,a plain little publication with a simplemessage—told in plain straight-forwardwords and go to the 60,000 homes, officesand libraries of the State and Nationeach month.There is much in Dr. Cooper's life andrecord to remind one of the ApostlePaul. Dr. Cooper's thorn in the fleshwas deafness—it affected his life greatly—it deprived him of some honors thatmight have been bestowed upon him.He had a most remarkable memory,probably part of this intellectual attainmentwas due to inherent ability. Itwould seem, however, to those who knewhim intimately that a considerable degreeof his most accurate memory wasdue to his defective hearing. He converteda defect into an asset. Dr. Cooperhad courage, the courage to flght forthat which he believed to be right—thecourage to fight for those who could notdefend themselves, the courage to fightthose in high places who disregarded orwere unmindful of the rights of all to ahealthy existence. Dr. Cooper gave publichealth a sound doctrine—Like theApostle Paul—he fought a good fight,finished his coxirse,, and he kept the