Title:

Letter from Luther L. Terry to C. Everett Koop

Creator:

ARA Services
Terry, Luther L. (Luther Leonidas), 1911-1985

Recipient:

Koop, Charles Everett, 1916-2013

Date:

22 February 1982

Description:

Koop and Luther Terry (1911-1985) had been colleagues on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine before Terry became U.S. Surgeon General in 1961. Terry became widely known when he released his seminal 1964 report on the health consequences of smoking. In this personal letter, Terry encouraged Koop to commit himself to the revitalization of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as a way of overcoming political opposition to his appointment among public health professionals, who suspected Koop of supporting the Reagan administration's attempt to reduce the size of the Public Health Service and abolish the Commissioned Corps. Koop soon dispelled such suspicion by giving Congressional testimony in favor of the Corps and by becoming the first Surgeon General in a generation to wear the official Surgeon General's uniform.

Location:

Box: 10. Folder: 5

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of Luther L. Terry Jr.

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Subject:

United States Public Health Service and Politics

Format:

Text

Extent:

2 pages

Language:

English

Legacy ID:

QQBCHS

NLM ID:

101584930X546

Profiles Collection:

The C. Everett Koop Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584930X546

Story Section:

Biographical Information