14 A HISTORY OF NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATION 



The first exhibit on tuberculosis in this country was held in 

 Baltimore in January, 1904, under the joint auspices of the Tu- 

 berculosis Commission of the Maryland State Board of Health 

 and the Maryland Public Health Association. The exhibit was 

 an objective presentation of the history, distribution, varieties, 

 causes, cost, prevention, and cure of tuberculosis, and was 

 undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. John S. Fulton, Secretary 

 of the Maryland State Board of Health. 



In 1908 the first open-air school in the United States was 

 established in Providence, R. I., by Dr. Ellen R. Stone, of the 

 school board of that city. In 1909 the first tuberculosis pre- 

 ventorium was established at Farmingdale, N. J. It owes its 

 inception to the munificence of the New York philanthropist, 

 Mr. Nathan Straus. The first day camp was established in 

 Boston in 1905, under the direction of the Boston Association for 

 Relief and Control of Tuberculosis. 



The first municipal preventorium was inaugurated on Sep- 

 tember 24, 1920. It has a capacity of 200 beds, and is located 

 at West New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y., forming a part of 

 Sea View Hospital. This preventorium owes its inception to the 

 Hon. Bird S. Coler, Commissioner of the Department of Public 

 Welfare of the city of New York. 



In 1908, after a meeting at the tuberculosis exhibition in New 

 York, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company decided to 

 establish a sanatorium for its consumptive employees. After 

 some litigation concerning the right of such a company to do 

 this, permission was granted by the courts and a magnificent 

 institution was erected at Mount McGregor, N. Y. It was 

 inaugurated on June 20, 1914. 



The need for special undergraduate instruction in tubercu- 

 losis was first recognized in 1901, when a chair of tuberculosis 

 was established in Tufts College Medical School in Boston. Dr. 

 Edward O. Otis was placed in charge, with the title of Professor 

 of Tuberculous Diseases and Climatology. In 1908 the New 

 York Post-Graduate Medical School created the first chair of 

 phthisiotherapy, which was occupied by the author until the ade- 

 quate development of the work had to be given up during the 

 war for lack of funds. 



