Title: “Radical Health Activism from the War on Poverty Era to the Age of Austerity (1961-1975)”

Abstract: From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, neighborhood activists, health professionals, and radicalized hospital workers mobilized around the issue of health equality across the country. Their demands included changes to student experience in the health professions, an end to exploitative relationships between private medical centers and public hospitals, and increased constituent input into how health care facilities were run. With New York City as a focus, this presentation examines the movement's formation during the War on Poverty years, its shift to more radical politics, and its implosion in the mid-1970s with the onset of the metropolitan fiscal crisis and internal fissures within ranks. The presentation engages with the growing literature on the origins of health activism, conceptions of patient dignity and health care rights, and the political turbulence of these decades.

The Bates Center Seminar Series features scholarly papers and presentations on the history of nursing and health care and welcomes all interested individuals.