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Dr. James Alexander Miller was born in Roselle, New Jersey on March 24,
1874. He received his A.M. in 1894 from Princeton University. As a chemist, he
worked with Dr. William H. Park in the Department of Health of New York City.
Pursuing his preference for medicine, he earned his M.D. from P & S in
1899. Although he entered practice in New York City, he devoted his summers to
practice at Paul Smith's in the Adirondacks where his friendship with Dr.
Trudeau generated an indomitable interest in tuberculosis.
Dedicating his life to achievement of advance in this field, Dr. Miller
abandoned the easy road and moved to where he could meet the problem head-on.
He left Presbyterian Hospital to go to Bellevue, which provided the best
illustration of that lost cause - the patient with tuberculosis. By means of
his work, he awakened the nation, and particularly New York City, to the
magnitude of the problem. By dint of almost superhuman effort, he managed to
set forces in motion which developed into the Community Service Organization,
the first organized anti-tuberculosis movement in New York. This accomplishment
eventually served to aid the national cause. (For details on the movement,
please refer to the Tuberculosis section.)
It is not surprising that Dr. Miller earned and received numerous
honors from a grateful nation. In the field of tuberculosis particularly,
immense courage had been necessary in order to accomplish progress. Most
facilities recognized the horrible toll of this disease, but few deigned to
address the problem. It was Dr. Miller who grappled with it, aroused an
apathetic nation, and finally brought it under control. Our gratitude, however
large, will never quite encompass the debt we owe him.
Dr. James Miller died on July 29, 1948 at the age of 74.
Dr.
James Alexander Miller
