CSTE celebrates February 2023 as Black History Month

In recognition of Black History Month, CSTE spoke with Heather Butts, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York. Ms. Butts shared a few unsung Black epidemiologists and their contribution to modern day epidemiology.

Past is Prologue: What Untold Stories of Black Epis Tells Us About Today

Heather Butts is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University and accomplished author. After her first book, African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era, was published in 2014, she received a curious question from a reader.

“I like your book, but why should we care about this now?”

It’s a sentiment often asked of historians and academics. Professor Butts answered it not with pie-in-the sky platitudes, but with a hardwired belief in how the past can inform today.

“Part of the book was about morphine use during the Civil War and finding that connection between trauma, coping and addiction,” she said. “There’s a direct line from that to what we’re seeing with the rise of the opioid crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Connecting the dots between past and present is a large part of Professor Butts’ class, “The Untold Stories in U.S. Health Policy History,” which covers the contributions of Black Americans to the history of healthcare, including epidemiology.

“We benefit from these individuals works, and yet they go unnamed,” she said “Their stories are not told. So, we benefit from what they've done for us, but we don't benefit from knowing who they are, and if we knew who they were, we might be able to benefit even more from what they've done.”

In the spirit of Black History Month, Ms. Butts spoke to CSTE about a few unrecognized Black epidemiologists and  the impact of their contributions to modern day.

In 1965, Bernard Challenor was the first Black American appointed to be an Epidemiological Intelligence Service Officer at the CDC. He also worked at the World Health Organization, where he led efforts to vaccinate for and eradicate smallpox.

“[Dr. Challenor] was one of the premier individuals at the School of Public Health at Columbia,” Professor Butts said. “His history and what he accomplished is so underknown that his niece actually contacted me to learn more about him. The reason why I teach the course is really for people to have a better understanding of who some of these individuals are.”

Another underknown name is Rebecca Crumpler, who some claim to be the first Black American woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S. In 1883, she wrote the Book of Medical Discourses, which provided early guidance on maternal and child health.

“Her contributions over 150 years ago to the field of maternal and child health stay with us today,” Professor Butts said. “We just don't know that they’re from her. And that’s problematic.”

Another untold story Professor Butts talked about was Vivien Thomas, a laboratory supervisor who developed a surgical procedure, the Blalock-Taussig shunt, used to treat blue baby syndrome. While doing his work, he was technically classified as a janitor and paid as one.

“It’s distressing,” she said. "You have this Blaylock-Taussig-shunt, and really it should be called the Blaylock-Taussig-Thomas-shunt, or maybe it should be called the Thomas-Blaylock-Taussig-shunt. It’s concerning that we don't know these stories and that they’re just not fully formed.”

Professor Butts stressed that even though these individuals may not officially be known or trained as epis, the work they did contributed to the field. She also draws a line between her historical perspective and the epi method.

“Epidemiology to me is history in real time,” she said. “It’s we see the trends, they happen over time, and if we can take a moment to learn from them, we can see everything old is new again.”

Too many stories of Black History, especially in regards to public health, have slipped through the cracks. Recognizing them is not just about knowing the past … but to also glimpse into the future.

“I think if we can know where we came from, we can have lessons not only to where we are now, but where we are headed, where we could be going,” Professor Butts said.

“To me, that's why knowing our history, our complete history, our full history, it's so critical. It's so instrumental.”

Professor Butts received her Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University. She was a history major, concentrating in American and African American Studies. She received her Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law, her Master of Public Health from Harvard University and her Master of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

She is also the co-founder or H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths, Inc. a nonprofit organization that focuses on college readiness and preparation. Her organization partners with 25 programs each year to help more than 1,000 students achieve their dream of going to college.

Read more about Professor Butts and her class, The Untold Stories in U.S. Health Policy History