George Washington Goler: The Biggest Crank and the Best Health Officer in the United States

ALTHOUGH NOT WELL KNOWN today outside of Rochester, New York—where he is still memorialized as a hero—George Washington Goler was one of the leading local public health officers of his day. He was well known and respected by better known contemporaries such as Herman Biggs of New York City and Charles M. Chapin of Providence, Rhode Island, and he often appeared on the national public health stage as evidenced by this article from the first volume of the American Journal of Public Health (in its first year called the Journal of the American Public Health Association). George Rosen notes that Goler was a pioneer in setting up milk stations where pasteurized milk was distributed at cost and mothers were instructed in the care and feeding of infants.¹ Others were impressed by his many progressive public health accomplishments and his cheerful willingness to stand up to business interests. Mayor Hiram Edgerton of Rochester called him “the biggest crank and the best health officer in the United States.”^2(p64) A contemporary, Selye W. Little, MD, wrote,

“You have a list of enemies that any man should be proud to have… . Your newspaper articles and ‘interviews’ with you reported in the newspapers are bright spots in an otherwise dreary waste of wordiness. ‘What Goler says’ is always read by everybody; and everybody chuckles except those whom he happens to be lambasting, flaying, pulverizing and otherwise making uncomfortable… . Such gentry would be pleased if we had another sort of Health Officer; ‘Goler disturbs business too much.’ —thank heavens.”^{3(p128–129)}

Goler was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1870, the son of a ship's carpenter. At the age of 14, he moved to Rochester to live and work with his uncle, Colonel George Washington Goler. In 1889, he began medical studies at the University of Buffalo and obtained his degree in 1891. He went to work in the medical practice of a prominent surgeon, Edward Mott Moore Sr, MD, who was also a devoted public health reformer and a member of the Rochester Board of Health. Goler demonstrated considerable skill in surgery and many were surprised when he elected to work in public health over a more financially rewarding surgical practice.³ At the young age of 22, Goler accepted an appointment as a Temporary Medical Inspector and Chief Assistant to the Health Officer. In 1894, his appointment as Chief Assistant Health Officer was made permanent, and in 1898, he became Health Officer of Rochester. In this position, he worked with prominent citizens and reformers such as George Eastman and Henry Lomb (of Bausch and Lomb) to bring good government and effective public health to the city of Rochester. Goler was especially influential in tuberculosis control, venereal disease control, improving labor conditions, and establishing child health programs. During his tenure as Health Officer, the city's infant mortality was reduced by 50%. As a public health innovator, activist, and leader, George Washington Goler deserves to be remembered and applauded.