World Tuberculosis Day

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Did you know that March 24th is World Tuberculosis Day? Each year the World Health Organization (WHO) commemorates World Tuberculosis (TB) Day to “raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.”

Mount Pleasant Patient Dormitory, founded in 1910 by Jacob Epstein, owner of the Baltimore Bargain House as a tuberculosis sanitarium for Jewish patients. JMM 1991.53.3a. Check out Archivist Lorie Rombro’s post “The Mount Pleasant Jewish Home for Consumptives – a Personal Connection” to learn more about the sanitarium.
Banner for the “Hebrew Tuberculosis Society,” c. 1920s. The Hebrew Tuberculosis Society, formed in 1900, was continuously in operation through the 1970s, and helped people suffering from respiratory problems. JMM 1999.70.1a.

Below is a digitized copy of an oral history interview with Dr. Herbert Goldstone, recording with Helen Sollins on July 22, 1982 to discuss his life history and medical career. He talks a short while near the end of the interview about  the closes he came to “making a world-shattering discovery- the cure for tuberculosis.” You can also download a full transcript of his oral history here.