The Good Doctor

It was March of 1914, and Greenwich was proud of its new Health Department, which included a state-of-the-art laboratory.  Bacteriology was the cutting edge of science then, the hot topic of the day.  And a young Irishman brought this new science to Greenwich as its first town bacteriologist/laboratory director.  Albert G. Bennett had been educated as a medical doctor at the University of Dublin.  He first worked for the New York City Department of Health upon immigrating to America, and also taught hygiene and sanitation. He had his work cut out for him.

Typical of an American town at the time, Greenwich was ravaged by infectious disease. Every year many cases of measles, polio, smallpox, scarlet fever, and whooping cough were reported, particularly among children,.  Diphtheria was one of these contagious diseases.  Caused by a bacterium, it killed its victims by the
formation of a grey membrane in the throat, cutting off their ability to breathe.

There was some hope, however.  In 1894, students of the great German microbiologist Robert Koch had actually cured a child of diphtheria in Berlin. They did this with an antitoxin, a protein that they were able to induce in the immune systems of horses.  When Herman Biggs, the Health Officer of New York City, heard about this, he immediately sailed for Germany to see if it was true.  Without waiting to return home, he breathlessly telegraphed the New York City Health Department Laboratory to buy horses and start making the antitoxin. They distributed it to clinics around the city, and it caused an immediate drop in the number of cases of diphtheria.

Back in Greenwich, Dr. Bennett added diphtheria control to his many duties.  He examined throat swabs taken from children for diphtheria, and administered the antitoxin.  When he found a child to be positive for diphtheria, he tested their entire class, and quarantined those who were carriers.  They were not readmitted to school until he had demonstrated that their throats were clear.

Dr. Bennett maintained a private medical practice in Greenwich and he spent his career there. He would frequently waive his fees for patients who were unable to pay him.  In an era when all medical care was “fee-for-service”, for many persons this probably meant the difference between getting medical care and going it on their own. He died suddenly in 1926, leaving behind seven small children.  He was a beloved figure in the community, and the Greenwich Health Officer eulogized him in his annual report.  Clarence Rowe, a local artist, created a lithograph in his honor entitled “A Community’s Grief” which shows a group of grateful patients standing behind a little girl offering a wreath to the memory of Dr. Bennett, who can be seen in his heavenly laboratory in the upper right corner.

Nine decades and a dozen lab directors later, the Greenwich Department of Health Laboratory follows in the footsteps of Dr. Bennett by offering free blood testing services to the participants of the Well Child Clinics sponsored by the Department and the state WIC Clinics.  The Greenwich Department of Health Laboratory cares for the needy, then and now.

Sources:

Greenwich Health Department Annual Reports: 1914, 1915, 1926

Greenwich Press: November 11, 1926

Protecting the Public Health, 2005

Barry, 2004

Photographs: From Dr. Bennett's family