Dr. Bishop’s Photo Album

Dr. Eugene Lindsay Bishop was a medical doctor, public health professional, and innovator of public health administration. He received his MD from Vanderbilt University Medical School in 1914. Ten years later, he became the Commissioner for the Tennessee State Health Department. After years of dedicated service, Dr. Bishop left the State Health Department in 1935 to become the director of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Health and Safety Department. Under his leadership, the Department established the Malaria Control Division, seeing as the TVA’s dam construction projects had the potential to increase incidences of already endemic malaria. The Department made significant strides in epidemiology and vector control in a time where federal funding for those fields was limited. Ultimately, the projects that Dr. Bishop led demonstrated how modernizing a region goes hand in hand with improving public health. Dr. Bishop remained widely respected in the field of public health well after his time with the TVA had come to an end. He won the Lasker Award in 1950 for his leadership during the Great Depression and lifelong commitment to the field of public health.

This photo album was a personalized gift for Dr. Bishop from “his friends at the TVA,” as it says on the front cover. It was presented to Dr. Bishop at a celebratory gathering after he received the Lasker Award. Included in this album are photos of Bishop and his team and newspaper clippings of Bishop’s achievements as they happened in real-time. The album is complete with appreciative annotations from his colleagues.