When Dr. Ed Fisher became chair of Health Behavior and Health Education in August 2005, he was aware that the department had a distinguished faculty and a long record of service.  But it was not until he met with University of North Carolina president emeritus William C. Friday earlier this year that he fully appreciated how rich and significant the department's history is.

Photograph of Lucy Shields Morgan

Fisher decided that new students in the department and others throughout the School would benefit from learning about Morgan's life and how her principles shaped the mission of the department. 

For that purpose, Fisher spearheaded a  gathering, set up as a series of reminiscences --scripted and impromptu -- from alumnae and faculty who had worked directly with Morgan or were influenced by her.

About 120 people -- current and former students, faculty and associates of the School of Public Health -- gathered at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on Friday, September 15, to celebrate Morgan's life and work.

Howard Fitts, PhD, Becky Bowden, alumna, William C. Friday and Ida Howell Friday

"Morgan initiated an earth-shifting change," Fisher said at the September 15 event, "from standard public health interventions to a focus on understanding people's lives."

Dean Barbara K. Rimer lauded Morgan's focus on the rights of all people to be healthy.  Making reference to President Friday's belief that "the problems of the people are our problems," she praised Morgan's insistence that the School and the department serve and improve the communities in the state and around the world.  She expressed hope that "today's students will come to know and emulate Lucy Morgan's ideals."

Dr. Eugenia Eng, professor in Health Behavior and Health Education, provided an overview of Morgan's contributions. 

Born into a family of privilege, Morgan adopted her parents' values, including the belief that those to whom much is given must in return give to others. 

After receiving a PhD in public health from Yale University in 1938, Morgan joined the U.S. Public Health Service and, in 1941, was transferred to the North Carolina State Board of Health.  Based in Fayetteville, N.C., she was called upon to contend with the dramatic increase in prostitution at the wartime military base in Fort Bragg.  Morgan's creative community-organizing skills addressed health challenges including nutrition, venereal disease, sanitation and tuberculosis.

Her efforts caught the eye of School of Public Health dean Milton Rosenau, who invited her to begin a program of health education at the School. Defying society's prejudices against women faculty and students of color, Morgan began a collaborative program between UNC and the North Carolina College for Negroes (NCC), now N.C. Central University (NCCU).  Her classes trained students to work cooperatively to address the health needs of all and to respect the cultural milieus of people with whom they worked.

"Morgan modernized the role of the public health worker," Eng said.  "No longer limited to standing on a street corner passing out pamphlets, the new public health educators were active in field work -- their sleeves rolled up in the communities where their efforts were needed most."

La Verne Reid, PhD, MPH, chair of the Department of Health Education and interim associate dean in the College of Social Sciences and Behavioral Studies at NCCU, spoke glowingly of Morgan's legacy.  "Lucy Morgan had such a clear sense of what the public health profession could become," Reid said, "that no one could disagree with her, even though she was doing some very innovative things."

Dr. Howard Fitts, a member of  the second cohort of Morgan's public health education master's program and later chair of the Department of Public Health at NCCU, recalled the "journal club" Morgan set up for students in the joint UNC - NCC program.  The club allowed white and black students to write down and share thoughts about their lives and work. 

"Lucy was the first to move us from being 'disease educators' to 'health educators,'" Fitts said.  "She was the first to focus on the means by which everyone in the community could attain well-being."

The September 15 event was the first of what will be an annual retrospective, during which new students and faculty are introduced to the department's origins and lineage.

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For more information contact Ramona DuBose, director of communications for the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, by telephone at 919-966-7467 or by e-mail at ramona_dubose@unc.edu.