Judson Dowling

Judson Davie Dowling (born April 30, 1880 in Daleville, Dale County; died November 2, 1946 in Mount Olive, North Carolina) was a physician who served as the first Jefferson County Health Officer, appointed in 1917.

Dowling was one of seven children raised by Samuel Lawson and Sarah Jane Windham Dowling of Dale County. He attended school there and found work as a railroad dispatcher in St Augustine, Florida. He read law there and after passing the Florida state bar served as a municipal judge. He then moved to Birmingham to attend medical school, going on to complete graduate work out of state. He returned to work as an obstetrician.

In 1917 Dowling was appointed to head the newly-created Jefferson County Health Department and also to serve as health officer for the City of Birmingham. He staffed his department with qualified professionals and led a major investment in improvements to public health and sanitation and was the central figure in the region's decisive response to the 1918 influenza pandemic.

By 1920 he had turned his attention to food safety, and in particular, dairy practices. On the evening of May 17, 1922 a group of men awakened him at home on the pretense of a medical emergency and abducted and flogged him, ordering him to leave town. It was suspected, but not proven, that the men were associated with the Ku Klux Klan and had been hired or encouraged by dairy owners to intimidate Dowling. He was not intimidated and civic leaders rallied to his support.

The Birmingham News awarded Dowling its "Loving Cup" for, "that citizen of Birmingham who had been most useful to the city during the year".

Dowling left his position to became a Regional Medical Director for the U.S. Public Health Service, and later served as superintendent of the Eastern State Hospital for Mental Diseases in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was a fellow of the American Medical Association and a director of the Alabama Tuberculosis Association.

References

• Dowling, R. A. (1959) A Dowling family of the South self-published, p. 92 - via Internet Archive - accessed April 6, 2020

External links

• Judson Davie Dowling at Findagrave.com