Badges

AIACS Lapel Pin

 
The American Academy of Sanitarians had its beginning in November 1956 when the Sanitarians Joint Council held an organizational meeting at the American Public Health Association conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The professionals who made up the Sanitarians Joint Council were representatives from three associations whose memberships embraced most sanitarians in the country. These organizations were the American Public Health Association, the International Association of Milk, Food, and Environmental Sanitarians (later called the International Association for Food Protection), and the National Association of Sanitarians (later called the National Environmental Health Association).

The American Intersociety Academy for the Certification of Sanitarians (AIACS) was formally incorporated in Indiana on March 14, 1966. The name of the AIACS was changed to the American Academy of Sanitarians in 1975. 

The 12 founding members of AIACS were:

Harold S. Adams
A. Harry Bliss
Emil T. Chanlett
E.E. Diddams
B. Russell Franklin
Larry J. Gordon
William V. Hickey
William C. Miller, Jr.
A. Faegin Parrish
Verne C. Reierson
Edwin L. Ruppert
Darold W. Taylor

This lapel pin was a gift from Larry Gordon, MS, MPH, DHL (Hon.), one of the founding members of AIACS and retired New Mexico Cabinet Secretary for Health and Environment.

California Inspector Badges 

 
The inspector badge on the left is a prewar issue, probably dating around the early 1930s.

The badge on the right is a rare circa 1900 California State Board of Health inspector badge with a painted red cross at its center. The badge was manufactured by Moise-K of San Francisco, California, and is maker-marked on the reverse side. This badge was worn by an inspector during the bubonic plague outbreak of 1900–1904 that was centered on San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was the first plague epidemic in the continental U.S.

According to Wikipedia, the epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, but its existence was denied for more than two years by California Governor Henry Gage. His denial was based on business reasons, to protect the reputations of San Francisco and California, and to prevent the loss of revenue due to quarantine. The failure to act quickly may have allowed the disease to establish itself among local animal populations. Federal authorities worked to prove that there was a major health problem and they isolated the affected area. This work undermined the credibility of Gage and he lost the governorship in the 1902 elections. George Pardee, the newly elected governor, implemented a medical solution and the epidemic was stopped in 1904. There were 121 cases identified, including 119 deaths.

Chicago Inspector Badges

 
Chicago had the most ornate inspector badges of any large city. The Chicago Health Department, which is overseen by a Board of Health, also has several firsts including an ordinance mandating milk pasteurization in 1909. The unsanitary conditions of the stockyards and meatpacking plants prompted Upton Sinclair to write his expose, The Jungle, which resulted in the 1906 Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug Acts. 

The inspector badges used the terms "Department of Health" and "Board of Health" interchangeably.

The gold badge with the Swiss cross (top left) is from 1900. The badge with the stylized Celtic cross (top right) is from the 1940s. The star badge (bottom middle) is from 1920.

Detroit Inspector Badges

This inspector badge from the City of Detroit, Michigan, was issued in the 1930s. It is uncharacteristically inornate and unusually large for badges of the time.

Inspector Badges From the 1940s

The four badges pictured are dated from the 1940’s.

Top row (from left to right): City of Houston, Texas; and City of Buffalo, New York

Bottom row (from left to right): Roanoke County, Virginia; and New Hampshire

Sanitary Corps Collar Insignia

The sanitarian profession had its formal beginning during periods of war. Our art and science was formally introduced during the Crimean War by Florence Nightingale, who was an English social reformer, statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. Environmental health in the military was taken seriously and introduced by the U.S. Sanitary Commission, a private relief agency that supported the Army of the Potomac during the U.S. Civil War.

When the U.S. entered World War I, the Medical Department required officers who were neither physicians, dentists, or veterinarians. This requirement resulted in the formation of the Sanitary Corps on June 30, 1917.

The officer “S” collar insignia above are from World War I and II. The collar insignia on the top were made in France for the U.S. forces in Europe in 1918. The collar insignia on the bottom were worn during World War II and were made by the A.E. Co. These pins have a Ballou clutch pin backing, which was introduced in 1942 and supplanted the older post and screw backs for pins in the postwar era.