William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells

William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells

Husband-and-wife team William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells conducted research that had the potential to make a big difference in the safety of indoor air. But it didn’t really have a significant impact on public health.

Research:

  • Associated Press. “Super-Oyster Is On its Way to Dinner Table Bigger and Better Bivalve Sports Pedigree.” 3/13/1927. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84020064/1927-03-13/ed-1/?sp=14
  • “Brought Back to Texas.” The Houston Semi-Weekly Post. 12/26/1889. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1196039760/
  • Decatur Daily Review. “Scientists Fight Flu Germs with Violet Ray.” 7/30/1936. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94335504/
  • Evening Star. “Scientific Trap-shooter.” 6/26/1937. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1937-06-26/ed-1/?sp=7&q=William+Firth+Wells&r=0.668,0.557,0.438,0.158,0
  • Fair, Gordon M. and William Weeks Wells. “Method and Apparatus for Preventing Infection.” U.S. Patent 2,198,867. https://ppubs.uspto.gov/api/pdf/downloadPdf/2198867
  • Hall, Dominic. “New Center for the History of Medicine Artifact - Wells Air Centrifuge.” Harvard Countway Library. https://countway.harvard.edu/news/new-center-history-medicine-artifact-wells-air-centrifuge
  • “Incubator Is Now Oyster Nurse.” Washington Times. 10/1/1925. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026749/1925-10-01/ed-1/?sp=12
  • Lewis, Carol Sutton. “Mildred Weeks Wells’s Work on Airborne Transmission Could Have Saved Many Lives—If the Scientific Establishment Listened.” Lost Women of Science Podcast. Scientific American. 5/22/2025. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-public-health-researcher-and-her-engineer-husband-found-how-diseases-can/
  • Library and Archives Team. “William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells.” Washington College. https://www.washcoll.edu/people_departments/offices/miller-library/archives-special-collections/archives-blog/Wells%20papers.php
  • Molenti, Megan. “The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill.” Wired. 5/13/2021. https://www.wired.com/story/the-teeny-tiny-scientific-screwup-that-helped-covid-kill/
  • Perkins JE, Bahlke AM, Silverman HF. Effect of Ultra-violet Irradiation of Classrooms on Spread of Measles in Large Rural Central Schools Preliminary Report. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1947 May;37(5):529-37. PMID: 18016521; PMCID: PMC1623610.
  • Randall, Katherine and Ewing, E. Thomas and Marr, Linsey and Jimenez, Jose and Bourouiba, Lydia, How Did We Get Here: What Are Droplets and Aerosols and How Far Do They Go? A Historical Perspective on the Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases (April 15, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3829873
  • Riley, Richard L. “What Nobody Needs to Know About Airborne Infection.” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Volume 163, Issue 1. https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/ajrccm.163.1.hh11-00
  • Simon, Clea. “Did a socially awkward scientist set back airborne disease control?” The Harvard Gazette. 3/7/2025. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/03/did-a-socially-awkward-scientist-set-back-airborne-disease-control/
  • “Texas State News.” McKinney Weekly Democrat-Gazette. 4/17/1890. https://www.newspapers.com/image/65385350/
  • WELLS MW, HOLLA WA. VENTILATION IN THE FLOW OF MEASLES AND CHICKENPOX THROUGH A COMMUNITY: Progress Report, Jan. 1, 1946 to June 15, 1949, Airborne Infection Study, Westchester County Department of Health. JAMA. 1950;142(17):1337–1344. doi:10.1001/jama.1950.02910350007004
  • WELLS MW. VENTILATION IN THE SPREAD OF CHICKENPOX AND MEASLES WITHIN SCHOOL ROOMS. JAMA. 1945;129(3):197–200. doi:10.1001/jama.1945.02860370019006
  • WELLS WF, WELLS MW. AIR-BORNE INFECTION. JAMA. 1936;107(21):1698–1703. doi:10.1001/jama.1936.02770470016004
  • WELLS WF, WELLS MW. AIR-BORNE INFECTION: SANITARY CONTROL. JAMA. 1936;107(22):1805–1809. doi:10.1001/jama.1936.02770480037010
  • Wells, W F, and M W Wells. “Measurement of Sanitary Ventilation.” American journal of public health and the nation's health vol. 28,3 (1938): 343-50. doi:10.2105/ajph.28.3.343
  • Wells, William Firth and Gordon Maskew Fair. Viability of B. coli Exposed to Ultra-Violet Radiation in Air.Science82,280-281(1935).DOI:10.1126/science.82.2125.280.b
  • Wells, William Firth and Mildred Weeks Wells. Measurement of Sanitary Ventilation American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health 28, 343_350, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.28.3.343
  • Zimmer, Carl. “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe.” Dutton. 2025.

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Jaksot(2586)

SYMHC Classics: Madame Blavatsky

SYMHC Classics: Madame Blavatsky

This 2020 episode covers the iconic figure of mysticism, Madame Blavatsky. She was the founder of the theosophical movement, and lived a life of adventure that's hard to believe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Joulu 202446min

Behind the Scenes Minis: Society for Disastrous Accidents

Behind the Scenes Minis: Society for Disastrous Accidents

Holly talks about the many, many organizations that Joaquín Torres-García formed. Tracy discusses how there was no plan in place before the SL-1 accident to deal with radioactive bodies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 Joulu 202416min

The SL-1 Reactor Incident

The SL-1 Reactor Incident

The Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 was a small boiling-water reactor built at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 3, 1961, during a restart of the reactor, a catastrophic tragedy unfolded when the reactor went supercritical. Research: Divison of Technical Information Extension, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “SL-1 The Accident, Phases I and II.” https://www.osti.gov/sciencecinema/biblio/1129428 Francisco, A.D. and E. T. Tomlinson. “Analysis of the SL-1 Accident Using RELAP5-3D.” Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. 2007 International RELAP5 User’s Seminar. November 7 -9, 2007. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/39/038/39038759.pdf?r=1 Idaho National Laboratory. “SL-1, Idaho: Just the Facts.” https://factsheets.inl.gov/FactSheets/Just%20the%20Facts_SL-1.pdf O’Connor, Bryan. “Supercritical: SL-1 Nuclear Reactor Explosion.” NASA. September 2007. https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-09-01-sl1nuclearreactorexplosion-vits.pdf McKeown, William. “Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident.” ECW Press. 2003. Perry, E.F. “Stationary Low Power Reactor No. 1 (SL-1) Accident Site Decontamination & Dismantlement Project.” Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies. 10/27/1995. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/27/029/27029475.pdf?r=1 SL-1 Accident Briefing Report - 1961 Nuclear Reactor Meltdown Educational Documentary. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. https://www.osti.gov/sciencecinema/biblio/1122857 Sommers, Bryan W. “Idaho Falls: The First Nuclear Meltdown in America’s History.” 4/11/2024. https://www.argonelectronics.com/blog/idaho-falls-first-nuclear-meltdown-in-americas-history Stacy, Susan M. “Proving the Principle.” Idaho Operations Office of the Department of Energy Idaho Falls, Idaho. 2000. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “IDO Report on the Nuclear Incident at the SL-1 Reactor, January 3, 1961, National Reactor Testing Station.” U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Idaho Operations Office. US Atomic Energy Commission. “REPORT ON THE SL-1 INCIDENT, JANUARY 3, 1961” https://archive.org/details/SL1PressRelease1961 Wander, Steve, executive editor. “Supercritical.” System Failure Case Studies. Vol. 1, Issue 4. https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-09-01-sl1nuclearreactorexplosion.pdf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Joulu 202443min

Joaquín Torres-García

Joaquín Torres-García

Joaquín Torres-García was Uruguayan-born artist who wanted to bring Constructivism and Modernism to Latin America, and worked for much of his life promoting the idea that Latin-American voices should be part of the Modernist art movement. Research: · Bollar, Gorki. “Primitive Paintings: Connections to Realism and Constructivism.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 1, 1984, pp. 17–19. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1574851 · Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Joaquín Torres-García". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Aug. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joaquin-Torres-Garcia · Duncan, Barbara. “Exploring New Horizons in Latin American Contemporary Art.” Revista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Dec. 30, 2001. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/exploring-new-horizons-in-latin-american-contemporary-art/ · Grimson, Karen. “JOAQUÍN TORRES-GARCÍA’S CREATIVE PARADOX.” INTI, no. 83/84, 2016, pp. 261–65. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26309985 · Jimenez, Maya, Dr. “Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Inverted America.” Smart History. Aug. 9, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/Torres-Garcia-inverted-america/ · “Joaquín Torres-García.” Art Collection. https://artcollection.io/artist/5ce4801004726600179036b4#:~:text=He%20worked%20on%20the%20first,la%20Sagrada%20Familia%20in%20Barcelona. · “Joaquín Torres García.” Centro Cultura Regoleta. http://cvaa.com.ar/04ingles/04biografias_en/torres_garcia_en.php · “Joaquín Torres-García.” Guggenheim. https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/joaquin-Torres-Garcia · “Joaquin Torres Garcia (1874-1949).” National Museum of Visual Art. https://mnav.gub.uy/cms.php?a=4 · “Joaquín Torres-García.” National Gallery of Art. https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2518.html · “Joaquín Torres-García.” Hutchinson Modern & Contemporary. https://hutchinsonmodern.com/artists/40-joaquin-Torres-Garcia/biography/Medina, Alvaro. “Torres-García and the Southern School.” ArtNexus. https://www.artnexus.com/en/magazines/article-magazine-artnexus/5ebf04481ae60a0ea57baa18/3/Torres-Garcia-and-the-southern-school · Museo Torres Garcia. “bio.” https://www.torresgarcia.org.uy/bio.php · ROMMENS, AARNOUD. “Latin American Abstraction: Upending Joaquín Torres-García’s Inverted Map.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, vol. 51, no. 2, 2018, pp. 35–58. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/90021965 · Torres, Celia de. “Constructing Abstraction with Wood: Joaquín Torres-García.” Literal. Issue 18. April 18, 2012. https://literalmagazine.com/constructing-abstraction-with-wood-joaquin-Torres-Garcia/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Joulu 202433min

SYMHC Classics: Demon Core

SYMHC Classics: Demon Core

This 2020 episode covers the sphere of plutonium-gallium alloy that the U.S. made for use in an atomic bomb during World War II known as the Demon Core was It was the source of two fatal criticality accidents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Joulu 202434min

Behind the Scenes Minis: Complicated Ely

Behind the Scenes Minis: Complicated Ely

Tracy relays how Sarah Winnemucca's story inspired this week's episodes, though they were recorded about a month apart, and also how Ely S. Parker is one of the most complicated figures she has ever written about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 Joulu 20246min

Ely S. Parker and Ulysses S. Grant (Part 2)

Ely S. Parker and Ulysses S. Grant (Part 2)

While working for the Treasury Department, Ely S. Parker met someone who would become a big part of much of the rest of his life – Ulysses S. Grant. It was through this connection that Parker gained a good deal of power, and cemented a controversial legacy. Research: · Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011. · Babcock, Barry. “The Story of Donehogawa, First Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” ICT. 9/13/2018. https://ictnews.org/archive/the-story-of-donehogawa-first-indian-commissioner-of-indian-affairs · Contrera, Jessica. “The interracial love story that stunned Washington — twice! — in 1867.” Washington Post. 2/13/2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/13/interracial-love-story-that-stunned-washington-twice/ · DeJong, David H. “Ely S. Parker Commissioner of Indian Affairs (April 26, 1869–July 24,1871).” From Paternalism to Partnership: The Administration of Indian Affairs, 1786–2021. University of Nebraska Press. (2021). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2cw0sp9.29 · Eves, Megan. “Repatriation and Reconciliation: The Seneca Nation, The Buffalo History Museum and the Repatriation of the Red Jacket Peace Medal.” Museum Association of New York. 5/26/2021. https://nysmuseums.org/MANYnews/10559296 · Genetin-Pilawa, C. Joseph. “Ely Parker and the Contentious Peace Policy.” Western Historical Quarterly , Vol. 41, No. 2 (Summer 2010). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/westhistquar.41.2.0196 · Genetin-Pilawa, C. Joseph. “Ely S. Parker and the Paradox of Reconstruction Politics in Indian Country.” From “The World the Civil War Made. Gregory P. Downs and Kate Masur, editors. University of North Carolina Press. July 2015. · Ginder, Jordan and Caitlin Healey. “Biographies: Ely S. Parker.” United States Army National Museum. https://www.thenmusa.org/biographies/ely-s-parker/ · Hauptman, Laurence M. “On Our Terms: The Tonawanda Seneca Indians, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1844–1851.” New York History , FALL 2010, Vol. 91, No. 4 (FALL 2010). https://www.jstor.org/stable/23185816 · Henderson, Roger C. “The Piikuni and the U.S. Army’s Piegan Expedition.” Montana: The Magazine of Western History. Spring 2018. https://mhs.mt.gov/education/IEFA/HendersonMMWHSpr2018.pdf · Hewitt, J.N.B. “The Life of General Ely S. Parker, Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant's Military Secretary.” Review. The American Historical Review, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Jul., 1920). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1834953 · Historical Society of the New York Courts. “Blacksmith v. Fellows, 1852.” https://history.nycourts.gov/case/blacksmith-v-fellows/ Historical Society of the New York Courts. “Ely S. Parker.” https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/ely-parker/ · Historical Society of the New York Courts. “New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble, 1858.” https://history.nycourts.gov/case/cutler-v-dibble/ · Hopkins, John Christian. “Ely S. Parker: Determined to Make a Difference.” Native Peoples Magazine, Vol. 17 Issue 6, p78, Sep/Oct2004. · Justia. “Fellows v. Blacksmith, 60 U.S. 366 (1856).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/366/ · Michaelsen, Scott. “Ely S. Parker and Amerindian Voices in Ethnography.” American Literary History , Winter, 1996, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1996). https://www.jstor.org/stable/490115 · Mohawk, John. “Historian Interviews: John Mohawk, PhD.” PBS. Warrior in Two Worlds. https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/historian/mohawk.html · National Parks Service. “Ely Parker.” Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. https://www.nps.gov/people/ely-parker.htm · Parker, Arthur C. “The Life of General Ely S. Parker: Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant’s Military Secretary.” Buffalo Historical Society. 1919. · Parker, Ely S. “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” December 23, 1869. Parker, Ely. Letter to Harriet Converse, 1885. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-harriet-converse/ PBS. “A Warrior in Two Worlds: The Life of Ely Parker.” https://www.pbs.org/warrior/noflash/ · Spurling, Ann, producer and writer and Richard Young, director. “Warrior in Two Worlds.” Wes Studi, Narrator. WXXI. 1999. https://www.pbs.org/video/wxxi-documentaries-warrior-two-worlds/ · Vergun, David. “Engineer Became Highest Ranking Native American in Union Army.” U.S. Department of Defense. 11/2/2021. https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2781759/engineer-became-highest-ranking-native-american-in-union-army/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Joulu 202443min

Ely S. Parker and the Tonawanda Seneca (Part 1)

Ely S. Parker and the Tonawanda Seneca (Part 1)

Ely S. Parker was instrumental in the creation of President President Ulysses S. Grant’s “peace policy." Parker was Seneca, and he was the first Indigenous person to be placed in a cabinet-level position in the U.S. and the first Indigenous person to serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Research: · Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011. · Babcock, Barry. “The Story of Donehogawa, First Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” ICT. 9/13/2018. https://ictnews.org/archive/the-story-of-donehogawa-first-indian-commissioner-of-indian-affairs · Contrera, Jessica. “The interracial love story that stunned Washington — twice! — in 1867.” Washington Post. 2/13/2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/13/interracial-love-story-that-stunned-washington-twice/ · DeJong, David H. “Ely S. Parker Commissioner of Indian Affairs (April 26, 1869–July 24,1871).” From Paternalism to Partnership: The Administration of Indian Affairs, 1786–2021. University of Nebraska Press. (2021). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2cw0sp9.29 · Eves, Megan. “Repatriation and Reconciliation: The Seneca Nation, The Buffalo History Museum and the Repatriation of the Red Jacket Peace Medal.” Museum Association of New York. 5/26/2021. https://nysmuseums.org/MANYnews/10559296 · Genetin-Pilawa, C. Joseph. “Ely Parker and the Contentious Peace Policy.” Western Historical Quarterly , Vol. 41, No. 2 (Summer 2010). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/westhistquar.41.2.0196 · Genetin-Pilawa, C. Joseph. “Ely S. Parker and the Paradox of Reconstruction Politics in Indian Country.” From “The World the Civil War Made. Gregory P. Downs and Kate Masur, editors. University of North Carolina Press. July 2015. · Ginder, Jordan and Caitlin Healey. “Biographies: Ely S. Parker.” United States Army National Museum. https://www.thenmusa.org/biographies/ely-s-parker/ · Hauptman, Laurence M. “On Our Terms: The Tonawanda Seneca Indians, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1844–1851.” New York History , FALL 2010, Vol. 91, No. 4 (FALL 2010). https://www.jstor.org/stable/23185816 · Henderson, Roger C. “The Piikuni and the U.S. Army’s Piegan Expedition.” Montana: The Magazine of Western History. Spring 2018. https://mhs.mt.gov/education/IEFA/HendersonMMWHSpr2018.pdf · Hewitt, J.N.B. “The Life of General Ely S. Parker, Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant's Military Secretary.” Review. The American Historical Review, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Jul., 1920). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1834953 · Historical Society of the New York Courts. “Blacksmith v. Fellows, 1852.” https://history.nycourts.gov/case/blacksmith-v-fellows/ Historical Society of the New York Courts. “Ely S. Parker.” https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/ely-parker/ · Historical Society of the New York Courts. “New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble, 1858.” https://history.nycourts.gov/case/cutler-v-dibble/ · Hopkins, John Christian. “Ely S. Parker: Determined to Make a Difference.” Native Peoples Magazine, Vol. 17 Issue 6, p78, Sep/Oct2004. · Justia. “Fellows v. Blacksmith, 60 U.S. 366 (1856).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/366/ · Michaelsen, Scott. “Ely S. Parker and Amerindian Voices in Ethnography.” American Literary History , Winter, 1996, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1996). https://www.jstor.org/stable/490115 · Mohawk, John. “Historian Interviews: John Mohawk, PhD.” PBS. Warrior in Two Worlds. https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/historian/mohawk.html · National Parks Service. “Ely Parker.” Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. https://www.nps.gov/people/ely-parker.htm · Parker, Arthur C. “The Life of General Ely S. Parker: Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant’s Military Secretary.” Buffalo Historical Society. 1919. · Parker, Ely S. “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” December 23, 1869. Parker, Ely. Letter to Harriet Converse, 1885. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-harriet-converse/ PBS. “A Warrior in Two Worlds: The Life of Ely Parker.” https://www.pbs.org/warrior/noflash/ · Spurling, Ann, producer and writer and Richard Young, director. “Warrior in Two Worlds.” Wes Studi, Narrator. WXXI. 1999. https://www.pbs.org/video/wxxi-documentaries-warrior-two-worlds/ · Vergun, David. “Engineer Became Highest Ranking Native American in Union Army.” U.S. Department of Defense. 11/2/2021. https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2781759/engineer-became-highest-ranking-native-american-in-union-army/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9 Joulu 202433min

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