Florida Public Health Oral History ProjectCollection IndexIn 1997, Dr. Charles Mahan, then dean of the USF College of Public Health, Sam Fustukjian, director of the USF Libraries, and Dr. E. Charlton Prather, a former Florida health officer, established the Florida Public Health Oral History Program. Dr. Prather interviewed administrators, physicians, laboratory managers, epidemiologists, nurses, and many other experts, prominent in the field of public health in Florida. The interviews were conducted at Florida Department of Health units in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach from 1997-2002. In this collection, the 60 interviewees discuss their motivation to pursue a career in the field, their education, the challenges and highlights of their jobs, and their determination to ensure the health of the people of Florida despite organizational upheaval and the vicissitudes of state politics. Note: Audio files for all of the interviews are currently available online, but transcripts are not yet available for all interviews. The Oral History team is working on the transcripts and the transcript PDFs will be added as they are completed. The 125th Anniversary of Public Health in FloridaBy E. Russell Jackson, JR.Series published in the Florida Public Health Advocate Newsletter in 2014Part 1 The 125th Anniversary of Public Health in Florida | More Florida Public Health History
Public Health in Florida - Yesteryear
William J. Bigler, Florida Journal of Public Health Vol. 1, No. 3, May 1989, p. 7-19 |
Oral interview with Dr. William J. Bigler, a biologist with the Florida Department of Health. In this interview, Dr. Bigler discusses his work on a project concerning the history of public health in Florida. He describes how he started in public health working in the Veterinary Public Health section and how, through this work, he started to investigate the history of the veterinary section and eventually the department. Dr. Bigler also talks about the numerous efforts that were taken to try and salvage some of the early artifacts and photographs related to Florida public health. The interview is concluded with a discussion about the creation of a public health history museum in Jacksonville.