Significant milestones in the development of Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago

By the time tuberculosis spread to the United States in the late 19^th century, it was already responsible for one quarter of all deaths in Europe. The contagious lung disease took hold in highly populated cities such as Chicago and New York and quickly became the nation's leading killer.

1906 Miss Harriet Fulmer and Dr Theodore B. Sachs of the Visiting Nurse's Association found the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute on March 17, 1906. One of Dr Sachs first acts as President was to open a dispensary on Elm Street.

1907 Emily Bissell, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, sought a way to fund health programs when she came across Christmas stamps, a device Denmark was using to raise awareness and financial support charitable programs.

She convinced the National Red Cross to offer the seals throughout the US, and CTI became its local marketing agency. The first Chicago seal was auctioned off for $85 and the sale raised $9,032. Between 1950-1967 CTI sold more Christmas Seals than any agency in the country topping out at $1,000,000 annually.

Rest, fresh air, and good food were the tuberculosis therapies of the day. Doctors encouraged patients to sleep outdoors even in bitter cold weather. Many patients moved to mountain or desert regions. Family physicians were largely indifferent to TB because it was a disease they couldn't cure. When patients started coughing, they were typically placed under house care and plied with patent medicines until they wasted away.

1916 Dr Theodore Sachs was a towering figure in the fight against TB. The first to research Chicago's TB epidemic, he was founder and first president of TBI, president of the National Tuberculosis Association, and president of Chicago's Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. As soon as William "Big Bill" Thompson became Mayor of Chicago, he politicized the MTS and tried firing Dr Sachs. Failing that, he accused Dr Sachs of fiscal malfeasance. Succumbing to political pressure, Dr Sachs resigned and took his own life in 1916.

1920 In the belief that sound health practices would ward off TB, CTI developed the Modern Health Crusade which encouraged students to brush teeth, bathe and exercise regularly, get sufficient sleep, and take vitamins. More than 136,000 students enrolled in the program. Institute nurses traveled between schools giving physical checkups.

1925 After a 20-year battle, TBI helped pass legislation requiring tuberculin testing for cows providing milk to Chicago residents. Twenty years later Dr James Hutton, chairman of the Medical Society's Tuberculosis Committee was to bemoan the lack of testing among children saying, "in respect to tuberculosis, it is safer to be a born a calf than a child."

A group of Chicago physicians launched The Robert Koch Society for the Study of Tuberculosis which was later changed to the American Sanatorium Association. Named after the German who discovered the tubercle bacillus, it was officially made the medical section of NASPT in 1915 and set standards for TB treatment. Changed to the American Trudeau Society in 1939 and to the American Thoracic Society in 1960.

1931 In response to an influx of Mexican immigrants, TBI set up an office on South Halsted to address the TB needs of Spanish-speaking residents, and established a separate, culturally appropriate program for African Americans which included grants to Provident Hospital.

1940 Although TBI had previously funded research programs, the Institute organized its first research committee.

1943 The long search for a TB cure was partially realized in 1943 when Dr Selman A. Waksman of Rutgers University discovered streptomycin, a breakthrough antibiotic that immediately arrested TB's progress.

By 1946 TB fatalities nationwide slipped to sixth place, but the number of active cases remained high and cases were largely uncontrolled prompting the Institute to focus its energies on detection. In partnership with Municipal Tuberculosis Sanatorium, TBI launched the largest continuous x-ray survey in the world. Annual x-rays increased from 323,228 in 1947 to over a 1,000,000 in 1956. The busiest x-ray screening unit in the world was at Chicago's City Hall

1956 Following a decline in TB deaths, National Tuberculosis Association voted to broaden its mission to include respiratory disease.

1964 The landmark Surgeon General's Report announced, "Cigarette smoking... is the single most avoidable cause of disease in our society and the most important public health issue of our time".

The Relief & Aid Society provided free office space for the first Chicago Tuberculosis Institute at 127 N. Dearborn St. A few years later it moved to 158 W Adams, then to 8 S. Dearborn St, 360 N. Michigan Ave and to 343 S. Dearborn in 1939. In need of a permanent home, the Institute purchased a building in 1948 at 1412 W. Washington Blvd, an area with Chicago's highest TB rates. A bequest of $130,000 from Mrs. Bertha Kramer allowed the Institute to double its space in 1964 and buy the 22,500 sq ft property next door at 1440 W. Washington Blvd.

1967 I'll Never Smoke, tobacco education classes were developed in partnership with Roger Blackmore, a teacher at Skokie's Niles West High School. The Institute distributed 50,000 "Yes, I mind if you smoke" buttons.

1967 John Kirkwood, the Institute's first Director of Environmental Health, testified before the City Council and the Illinois Air Pollution Control Board on behalf of tighter air pollution standards, organized the Clean Air Coordinating Committee and scored a major victory by winning a suit against the IEPA.

1972 The name of the TB Institute of Chicago and Cook County was changed to the Chicago Lung Association. The National TB and Respiratory Disease Association formally changed its name to the American Lung Association.

1980 Camp Action, a week-long summer camp for children with asthma was launched to help children enjoy outdoor activities and learn asthma management.

1984 CLA's smoking withdrawal clinic was recognized by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services as one of the nation's 35 outstanding community health promotion programs.

1985 The Chicago Lung Association Research Endowment was formed, doubling the Association's research efforts.

1988 The Chicago Lung Association organized a grassroots lobbying campaign to pass Chicago's first clean indoor ordinance (34-8) restricting smoking in restaurants, workplaces and public spaces.

1992 The US EPA releases a first-ever assessment of the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke. CLA joined with Alderman Ed Smith to secure passage of a Chicago City Council amendment requiring restaurants to make 30% of their dining areas smoke-free.

1992 Volunteer Diana Hackbarth leads Virginia Slims protest at UIC Pavilion, "A tax-supported state university has no business aligning itself with a tobacco company which promotes disease and death to its customers". Volunteers later drew national media attention when they picketed the Democratic National Convention.

1993 Chicago Lung Association renamed the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

1997 ALAMC spearheads the development of a nationwide network of Asthma Clinical Research Centers to conduct large scale asthma research locally and nationwide. An ALAMC study on billboards persuades City Council to approve a ban on tobacco and alcohol billboards in minority areas.

1998 The State of Illinois expects to receive $9 billion over a 25-year period as part of a national settlement with tobacco companies. The First Hustle up the Hancock is held; ALAMC administers 14,000 receive flu shots

2001 ALAMC's school-based health programs reached more than 32,000 students, parents and educators. Chicago Campaign for Clean Air launched a campaign to reduce air pollution from coal burning power plants in Pilsen and Little Village.

2004 Four major health initiatives unveiled: "Catch Your Breath," the first annual women and lung health conference; Chicago's first Asthma Action Plan; a COPD Initiative to combat the nation's fourth killer disease; and the READI program providing influenza vaccinations to 25,000 Chicagoans.

2005 ALAMC plays a key role passing Chicago's comprehensive clean indoor air ordinance phasing out smoking in all bars and restaurants.

2007 The Smoke Free Illinois Act is passed through the work of the ALAMC and other health groups.

2007 The ALAMC becomes an independent lung health organization, changing its name to Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. The mission is to fight lung disease and promote healthy lungs.