Young, J. Harvey 1915-2006

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born September 8, 1915, in New York, NY; died of complications following a stroke, July 29, 2006, in Atlanta, GA. Historian, educator, and author. A retired Emory University professor, Young was best remembered for his histories on medical nostrums and food quality legislation. A 1937 graduate of Knox College, he completed a master's degree and doctorate at the University of Illinois in 1938 and 1941, respectively. He joined the Emory University faculty in 1941 and was a chair of the history department for several years. With the exception of his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, he remained at Emory until his 1984 retirement. Although Young wrote on the history of Georgia and other topics, he was more often noted for his histories of medicine and quack medications. These include The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America before Federal Regulation (1961) and The Medical Messiahs: A Social History of Health Quackery in Twentieth-Century America (1967). He would later go on to publish such works on medicine as American Self-Dosage Medicine (1974) and American Health Quackery: Collected Essays (1992). A former president of the Southern Historical Association, Young was also praised was his Pure Food: Securing the Federal Food and Drugs Acts of 1906 (1989).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2006, p. B15.

New York Times, August 11, 2006, p. A17.