Category: History & Historiography, Biography, U.S. National Library of Medicine, United States

History of Medicine John Ballard Blake, Ph.D. Historian John Blake made significant contributions to the field of medical history. He was educated at Yale, BA, 1943, with Honors in History, Harvard, MA, 1947, and Ph.D., 1954, in American history. He was among the first generation of historians of medicine to come out of history departments, rather than clinical medicine, and he helped integrate the subject into the broader field of social history. His interests were primarily the history of public health in America and women’s history. His books and articles dealt with public health in 18th and early 19th century Boston, medicine in colonial America, and women and medicine in 19th century America.