John Sundwall was an important figure in public health education, and his papers reflect his broad interests in this area. As a University of Michigan administrator and educator and as an involved member of various professional groups, Sundwall was a thoughtful leader in discussions pertaining to the kind of education and course offerings individuals in various public health positions should receive. More an educator and administrator than a researcher, Sundwall was a responsible and dedicated thinker in the development of public health as a respected profession.
The John Sundwall papers, covering the years 1921 to 1944, consist mainly of records maintained by Sundwall in his capacity as director of the University of Michigan Division of Hygiene and Public Health. There are no papers prior to his coming to Michigan in 1921 and only scattered papers after 1941 when the School of Public Health was established.
The Sundwall collection consists of correspondence, administrative reports and studies, working files, minutes of meetings attended, manuscripts of writings, and photographs.
The collection has been grouped into the following series: Biographical/background information, Correspondence, University of Michigan Division of Hygiene and Public Health, University of Michigan Topical, Organizations, Topical file, Writings, and Photographs.
John Sundwall, public health physician and educator, was born June 12, 1880 in Fairview, Utah. He was educated at the University of Chicago (B.S., 1903 and Ph.D., 1906) and at Johns Hopkins University (M.D., 1912). He taught anatomy at the University of Chicago (1906-07) and the University of Utah (1907-1910). After receiving his medical degree, he moved to the University of Kansas, where from 1913 to 1918 he was professor of anatomy, secretary of the Medical School and director of the University Health Service. In 1918, he went to the University of Minnesota as professor of hygiene and public health and director of the University Health Service. He served here until 1921 when he followed Marion L. Burton to the University of Michigan as professor of hygiene and public health and director of the newly created Division of Hygiene, Public Health, and Physical Education.
Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan supported a quiltwork of health education opportunities with responsibility divided among a number of schools and colleges. Public health nurses, for example, were trained in the School of Education, while the Medical School, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts offered other required courses. Graduate training for other professional workers, such as health officers and sanitary engineers, was provided through the graduate school. Sundwall early on recognized the need for administrative reorganization and centralization of the university's health services and its curricula in public health training into a school of public health.
The process would be a gradual one and would consume most of Sundwall's professional life at the university. The Division of Hygiene, Public Health, and Physical Education to which Sundwall was appointed in 1921 administered five different activities: men's physical education, intramural athletics, women's physical education, the University Health Service, and the teaching of public health and training of health workers. Over the next two decades, Sundwall worked to streamline and knit together disjointed activities. First, in 1925-26, the division's physical education and intramural athletics responsibilities were transferred to the supervision of the Board in Control of Athletics, and the division was accordingly renamed the Division of Hygiene and Public Health. The most remarkable change, however, was the increase in number of courses being offered in public health, the number of faculty members available to teach, and the number of students receiving public health training.
One of his greatest accomplishments was his work in the establishment of a school of public health. At their August 1939 meeting, the Regents accepted the recommendations of the Division of Health Sciences that a School of Hygiene and Public Health be established. The School of Public Health as an administrative unit began with the school year in 1941. The school was helped immeasurably with funds for building and operations provided by the Rockefeller Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Sundwall was also active with a variety of professional organizations: the American Public Health Association, the American Child Health Association, the Committee on the Cost of Medical Care, the Michigan Tuberculosis Association, and the President's Committee of Fifty on College Hygiene.
Sundwall retired as professor in 1949. He died December 13, 1950.
