Harry J. Warner was born July 19, 1880 in Prophets town,
Illinois a small rural town in the northwestern part of the state.[1] He graduated from the
University Illinois in Urbana in 1901 with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry.[2] He received his MD at
George Washington University in 1907.[3] He worked in the Bureau of
Chemistry at the Department of Agriculture before being commissioned with the
U.S. Martine Hospital Service on April 3, 1908. Like all other Public Health
Service surgeons, he lived the life of a nomad constantly traveling at the
command of the Surgeon General. His first assignment was on the Revenue Cutter
Itascu in 1911.[4]
Several years later, in 1915, he ordered to work in Tampa Bay, Florida at the quarantine
station. [5] From July 26, 1917 to June
30, 1919 he served as the Officer in Charge at several military camps as well
as the City of Atlanta, Georgia.[6] He was promoted to Surgeon
on June 5, 1920 and then sent to New York City to manage Hospital Number 70,
formerly known as the House of Relief, which opened on December 9, 1920.[7] For the next fifteen years
he lived in New Mexico and Washington with assignments to the Fort Stanton, New
Mexico General Hospital Number 9 (1922-1926),[8] Albuquerque, NM
(1926-1930),[9]
and Spokane, Washington (1930-1933) where he became senior surgeon and was
responsible for control of communicable disease amongst Indians.[10] On March 24, 1934 he was
promoted to Medical Director and served two years in San Pedro, California
(1934-1936).[11]
He became the medical officer in charge of Gallops
Island on September 1, 1936 - the year when this station’s operations were
permanently disbanded. Warner assumed command of both the quarantine and
immigration operations in Boston – a major step forward in the consolidation of
federal services. In his 1939 annual report he noted that 59,741 aliens were
examined aboard vessels in Boston, with 54,698 being seamen and 5,043
passengers. The passengers consisted of 909 aliens seeking permanent admission
to America as well as 4,122 visitors or returning aliens. Warner also conducted
inspections at the sub-ports of Chelsea, Quincy, Charlestown, Everett, Lynn,
Beverly, Salem, Marblehead, Weymouth, Braintree, Cambridge and Plymouth,
Massachusetts. By 1939 radio pratique was in full swing with 84 vessels using
this special expedited service. IN that year, the quarantine station included
an administration building in the customs house, a boarding office, garage, and
dock space for two boats at the Army Base in South Boston and Gallops Island,
which was still being maintained and kept in condition for the detention of
quarantinable cases. Warner recommended that Gallops Island quarantine station
be maintained until the new hospital facilities opened at the Marine Hospital. During
this transition period, Warner kept one caretaker on the island.[12]
He died July 26, 1954 in San Diego, CA.
[2] Twenty
First report of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1902,
Springfield, IL, p. 77. Accessed online: http://archives.library.illinois.edu/erec/University%20Archives/0101802/01_volumes/1900-1902.pdf
[12]
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1939, Boston Massachusetts Quarantine Station,
Report Prepared by H.J. Warner, July 7, 1939, National Archives and Record
Administration, College Park, MD, Domestic Stations, 1936-1944; 1940-1939
Annual Reports Quarantine (Misc.), Box 145, E10 NWCH, HM1999
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