Please
join JCDH in congratulating Dr. Mark Wilson, the 2023 Lou Wooster Public Health Hero
Award recipient!
Lou Wooster Public
Health Hero Award
In
2007, the UAB School of Public Health established the annual Lou Wooster Public
Health Hero Award. This award is made in honor and memory of Lou Wooster, a
legendary figure who helped save Birmingham from a cholera epidemic in the 19th
century. As a madam in Birmingham, Lou Wooster lived on the seamy side of
“polite society”, but when a cholera epidemic struck in 1873, her concern for
others came out into the full light of day. Most residents fled the city during
the outbreak, but not Lou. She stood her ground against the disease and when
the renowned madam of the boomtown’s most exclusive bordello chose to stay
behind and care for those threatened by a natural disaster, it was an
extraordinary act of courage. She opened her brothel to the sick and poor, and
helped nurse the city back to health. This is why the School of Public
Health has used the word “Hero” in the award title.
The
annual award designee is recommended by the Broad Street Committee, an external
advisory board to the Dean of the School of Public Health.