Everyone loves an interesting story and Bryan County history is filled with them. Each month we'll share one from our newspaper archives. Remember to check your family tree and see if your ancestor  might have read about or participated in the event, trial, or tragedy reported. 

            

The Best Advice from the Best Doctors

“The six best doctors anywhere,

And no one can deny it,

Are Doctors Sunshine, Water, Air

Rest, Exercise and Diet.”

That wise pronouncement was made by Dr. A. R. Lewis, Oklahoma’s State Health Commissioner, in the spring of 1922. The country was beginning to recover from the influenza pandemic that infected a third of the world’s population and killed an estimated 20-50 million people. America was left with physical, emotional, and financial difficulties to overcome and they were determined to prevent a reoccurrence of the dreaded disease. As a result, doctors all over the country provided guidelines and warnings for an eager audience. Dr. Lewis’s column appeared in dozens of newspapers, including the Durant Daily Democrat and the Durant Weekly News. He also spoke in Durant at the Southeastern Oklahoma Medical Association conference in July.

Dr. Lewis pointed out that fresh air and sunshine were major factors in saving the lives of many of our WWI soldiers, both physically and emotionally. “Bright sunshine and pure air,” he said, “have a wonderfully soothing influence on drooping spirits and shattered nerves.” He was also concerned about tuberculosis, which was killing about twelve thousand American children each year. He referred to TB as a “bad air, lack of sunshine, and poor nourishment disease”. He urged mothers everywhere to “compel” their children to spend the better part of the day outside when they were home on vacation. He also gave advice for the prevention of typhoid, measles, smallpox, pneumonia, catarrh, and a host of other ailments. His general guidance always favored “wholesome living” and “healthy hygiene”.

One of the basic tenets of Dr. Lewis’s health campaign was the idea of a clean community. He praised towns that took it upon themselves to provide the public with clean streets and alleys, clean businesses, and of course, clean water. He urged “city officials, women’s clubs, churches, men’s organizations, and similar bodies” to get together and formulate plans to maintain clean communities. He urged water testing and advised anyone who was unsure of the quality and purity of their water to boil it.

Dr. Lewis urged people to stay outside as much as possible, exercise daily in the fresh air, and sleep in a “well-ventilated room”. He bemoaned the fact that many families neglected sleep in favor of recreation. “The average young mother,” he complained, “is quite averse to sacrificing any social pleasure to the establishing of a regular and early bedtime for her child.” He stated that the youngest children should sleep twelve hours per night, older children needed ten hours, teens required nine hours, and adults should sleep eight hours. He also stressed that quality of sleep was important. He urged people to avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and heavy covers. He was adamantly against children sleeping with adults.

Perhaps the most controversial advice given by Dr. Lewis, especially in light of the fact that he served as the health leader of Oklahoma, was his instruction concerning diet. He advocated a strict vegetarian diet, eliminating all meats, and eating eggs and cheese only in moderation. He also believed in the avoidance of all sugar and sweets, limiting the consumption of bread, and avoiding caffeine. He thought the stomach was “entitled to a rest of four to five hours between meals” and therefore, people should not snack. He advised that they quell hunger by drinking lots of pure water.

Dr. Lewis also informed the public that one of the most important healthy habits they could cultivate was the “Clean Hand Habit”.  “Hands are a common medium of infection thru which some of the most dangerous diseases are spread,” he explained, “because most people are continuously bringing their hands into contact with the oral cavities- the mouth and nose, in such a manner as to infect them with the germs of the disease.” He believed that all food handlers and servers should have a physical exam before being employed.

He also urged the administrators of all state schools and colleges to require physical exams for teachers and students before they returned to school in the fall. It’s interesting to note that the topic of discussion at the September PTA meeting of the South Ward in Durant was “Proper Diet for Children”, rather than an academic concern.

Dr. Lewis believed in knowledge, planning, and cooperation: “If every city, town, and community in the state would fall in line and inaugurate such a health movement and consistently carry it to a finish, 1922 would stand out in history as the year in which Oklahoma was placed in the front ranks of public health improvement and the period during which her sickness and death rate dropped to the minimum.”

Equally good advice for 2020.

Our Collections page will tell you about the many newspapers that are available for your research. You might be surprised by the stories YOU find.