Celebrating Women’s History Month: Dr. Alice Hamilton, the Mother of Occupational Health and Safety

As we approach the end of Women’s History Month, let’s take the time to remember the woman responsible for pioneering occupational health and safety.

Growing Up

Dr. Alice Hamilton was born in New York City in 1869 and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with three sisters and one brother. Alice and her sisters were homeschooled by her family, receiving an education emphasizing literature and languages. In her late teenage years, she decided that she wanted to become a doctor, but she had to overcome her lack of education in science. She studied physics and chemistry with a Fort Wayne high school teacher, took a few courses at a small medical school, and enrolled in the University of Michigan in 1892.

Paving the Way for Industrial Medicine

In 1897, Dr. Hamilton accepted a teaching position at the Women’s Medical School of Northwestern University and joined Hull House, a settlement house founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. At the Hull House, Hamilton treated the poor for ailments often caused by poor working conditions.

In 1910, Hamilton was appointed by the governor of Illinois to study the extent of industrial illness in the state. She focused on lead industries and discovered that over seventy industrial processes led to lead poisoning. As a result of Hamilton’s work correlating occupation to illness, legislation was passed in 1911 in Illinois that required employers to implement safety procedures limiting workers’ exposure to toxic chemicals, provide monthly medical examinations, and report illnesses to the Department of Factory Inspection. This legislation was some of the first of its kind.

Hamilton’s work caught the attention of the Commissioner of Labor, Charles Neill, and she was asked to do nationally what she had done in Illinois. Over the years, she studied aniline dye, carbon monoxide, mercury, benzene, and other toxic chemicals and their connections to exposure in the workplace.

Leaving a Legacy

Dr. Alice Hamilton was the first American physician to devote their professional life to occupational health; in addition, many of the first laws and regulations passed to improve the health and safety of the working class were the direct result of her work. Three months after her death, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was formed, and a year later, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created.

References

Alice Hamilton and the Development of Occupational Medicine

Alice Hamilton and the Development of Occupational Medicine Booklet

History of Alice Hamilton, MD

National Park Service - Dr. Alice Hamilton

National Park Service - Hull House