Janet Marie Mandrona Lemond
Gillette Castle is Connecticut’s most visited state park. As a silent movie actor, Mr. Gillette popularized the character of Sherlock Homes, and built a huge Gothic castle to commemorate his accomplishments. This book recounts the story of Dr. Alice Hamilton, one of William Gillette’s most notable neighbors.Try to imagine a time in the early 1900s when safety wasn’t part of the workplace culture, when workers’ compensation laws were unheard of, and when OSHA didn’t exist. Workers were often seriously injured on the job or even poisoned by the chemicals they used. Unions hadn’t yet gained a foothold, so there was no one to stand up for the working men and women. This was Alice Hamilton’s world and the one she hoped to correct. This book will focus on the life and career of Gillette’s neighbor, Alice Hamilton. Born in 1869 and living for some 101 years, not only did Dr. Hamilton see sweeping changes in the world of occupational medicine and safety/health, but she also instituted many of these changes herself. She was the first female professor at Harvard University, even before women were allowed an education at this institution. As a political and social activist, she did not shirk from difficult and even dangerous conditions. Alice fought alongside the labor unions; she lobbied to pass laws to protect the common people, and she was acclaimed for her medical acumen. She did most of her work in the factories, production mills, and sweatshops of the late 1800s to the early to mid-1900s. Dr. Hamilton even visited Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and Germany after the Nazis were entrenched in power. More than any other woman of her time, Alice Hamilton pursued an active and purposeful life.
