VENEREAL DISEASE AND
COMPULSION
In the spring of 1916
the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico,
setting off a small war with the U.S. After General Pershing chased him back to Mexico numerous American troops remained encamped on the Mexican border. Saloons
and brothels appeared almost instantly and the venereal disease rate among the
troops soared, reaching close to 30%. As rumors of the “debauched” scene
drifted out, Secretary of War Baker dispatched Raymond Fosdick, a
 |
| Raymond Fosdick (Wikicommons) |
The very next year the U.S. military began preparing for war in Europe. The War Department formed the
Commission on Training Camp Activities (CTCA), headed by Fosdick, to help keep
STIs out of the military training camps. The goal was to create a wide
perimeter around the camps, devoid of bars and brothels, encourage sporting and
recreational facilities, and provide education about STIs with graphic
lectures, pamphlets, and movies.
But male-female
contacts flourished anyway and the VD rate remained high. As a stopgap measure
“chemical prophylaxis” was provided for recruits recently exposed: first
urinate, then wash the genitals, follow with a mercury bichloride rinse, then
an injection of protargol (a silver-albumin compound) into the urethra to be
held for five minutes, then expelled. It seemed to be effective for gonorrhea
prevention.
Meanwhile, another
group, the Committee on Protective Work for Girls (CPWG), headed by the social
worker Maude Miner, was formed to patrol around bases, befriend nearby women,
and try and talk them out of meeting recruits. This also had little impact,
persuading the CTCA to turn to more repressive measures, initiating a dark
chapter in public health history. Detention became the watchword.
Subdivisions of the CTCA worked with Law
Enforcement personnel. They approached young women found near training camps
and, if suspicious, hauled them off for an examination for venereal disease. If
any was found they were incarcerated for treatment. For syphilis this meant
several weeks.
State governments,
fearful of losing lucrative military camps, cooperated in the effort by passing
laws for the arrest of women “reasonably suspected” of having VD. In many cases
there was no habeas corpus, bail, or legal recourse for arrested women. By
March 1918, 32 states had passed such laws. Rockefeller money went into the
CTCA. President Wilson allocated $250,000 for establishing “detention homes”
where the women were held and treated (to keep them out of prisons), and states
provided others. Congress passed the Chamberlain-Kahn bill authorizing one
million dollars for the same purpose, though the money went for maintenance of
existing ones. The homes were often pretty shabby. Many of the detainees were
given IQ tests, part of the nascent eugenics movement seeking to sterilize
mental defectives. Over 18,000 women were incarcerated in federally funded
institutions, some of whom did not have VD. The total number incarcerated is
estimated at 30,000 or more.
A recent book
describes the ordeal of Nina McCall, an 18-year-old woman in St. Louis,
Michigan, thought to have been fraternizing with soldiers at a nearby base.
Confronted with a choice of being quarantined in her house with a sign outside
saying she had venereal disease or entering a treatment facility, she opted for
the latter. She was treated for gonorrhea and syphilis
in a “detention hospital”
– a former contagious disease hospital. Once inside she could not leave until
treatment was complete, about 2 ½ months in her case.
 |
| August von Wassermann |
A cacophony of public
opinions on venereal disease provided a backdrop. Many still saw it as a moral
issue, preaching education and abstention. Others advocated legally regulated
prostitution near camps, with regular inspection of women by doctors to weed
out those with disease (This was done in Nashville and Memphis during the Civil
War). Many, especially women’s groups, complained, rightly but in vain, that
detaining women and suppressing prostitution implied that men had little
responsibility for passing on infections. If women were to be arrested, why not
men? In the military soldiers were seldom disciplined even though acquiring VD
was a punishable offence. Strangely, condoms were seldom emphasized, partly
because they were seen as an inducement for “loose behavior” and partly to
avoid antagonizing the Catholic Church.
 |
| Poster for film on Paul Ehrlich played by Edward G Robinson (Wikipedia) |
Medically, progress had been made with VD. In
the first decade of the twentieth century the spirochete causing syphilis was
discovered by Schaudinn and Hoffmann, and August von Wasserman developed his
serologic test for syphilis. In the next decade Paul Ehrlich’s lab discovered
compound 606 (Salvarsan), then Neosalvarsan, both arsenicals, usually used with
mercury, for treatment of syphilis. Side effects of arsenicals were significant
and dose regimens unstandardized. Many underwent treatment for months. Urethral
silver
 |
| Fritz Schaudinn (Wikipedia) |
After WWI most of the
detention activities ceased as training camps dissolved and funding evaporated.
Important too was a public reaction against detentions and the compromise of civil rights. Raymond Fosdick eventually became president of the
Rockefeller Foundation. The US Public Health Service, filling the postwar void,
assumed a greater role in STI prevention and education.
SOURCES:
Stern,
Scott. The Trials of Nina McCall.
2018; Beacon Press.
Brandt,
Allan. No Magic Bullet: A social History
of Venereal Disease in the United States since 1980. 1985; Oxford Univ
Press.
Parascandola,
John. Sex, Sin, and Science: A history of
Syphilis in America. 2008; Praeger Press.
Sartin,
J S, Perry, H O. “From Mercury to Malaria to Penicillin: The History of the
Treatment of Syphilis at the Mayo Clinic-1916-1955”. J Amer Acad Dermatology 1995; 32:255-61.
Kampmeier,
R H. “Venereal Disease in the United States Army: 1775-1900”. Sexually Transmitted Dis 1982; 9(2):
100-03.
Kampmeier,
R H. “The Continuous Treatment of Early Syphilis by Arsphenamine and Heavy
Metals”. Sexually Transm Dis 1981; 8:
224-6.
Brown,
MT and Fee, E. “Raymond D. Fosdick (1883-1972): Ardent Advocate of
Internationalism” Am J Public Health.
2012; 102(7): 1285.
