Walter Lear

Walter Jay Lear (May 4, 1923 - May 29, 2010) was an American physician and activist for healthcare reform and LGBT rights.^[1][2][3] Among his contributions, Lear was a founder of the Institute of Social Medicine and Community Health and the Maternity Care Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.^[4][5] In 1964 Lear was also a founder of the Medical Community for Human Rights.^[6] He received the American Public Health Association's Helen Rodriguez-Trias Award for his contributions to the cause of social justice.^[7]

Early life and education[]

Lear was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 4, 1923. He attended Harvard University, then known as Harvard College, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1943. He subsequently completed his medical degree at the Long Island College of Medicine in 1946. Lear completed his M.D. with the aid of the Army Specialized Training Program during World War II.^[3] He also earned a master of science in hospital administration at Columbia University in 1948.^[1] Lear's training in hospital administration included field work at the Montefiore Medical Center.^[3]

Career[]

Public health[]

Following completion of his formal education, Lear worked for the United States Public Health Service.^[8] In 1964, he moved to Philadelphia to become the city’s first deputy health commissioner. He served in this role until 1971.^[1]

During the course of his career, Lear held a variety of public health positions, including regional health commissioner for the Pennsylvania Department of Health and director of the Philadelphia General Hospital. He was appointed to these positions by Pennsylvania Governor James H. J. Tate. Lear also was appointed in 1971 by Governor Milton Shapp as State Regional Health Commissioner.^[1]

During his tenure as a public health official, Lear campaigned for a City of Philadelphia law that would ban discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation, ultimately resulting in passage of the city's Gay Rights Bill in 1982.^[4]

Lear's public service roles extended beyond public health. In 1984, Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode appointed Lear to the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission.^[4]

Social justice[]

External media
Media related to Walter J. Lear
Photograph of Walter Lear, courtesy of the Philadelphia Gay News

Lear was one of the founders of the Maternity Care Coalition and Physicians for Social Responsibility.^[8] Even late in life, from his retirement home, he founded the Institute for Community Health and Social Medicine which monitors progress of health activism and assists community organizers.^[9] Through much of his career, Lear mentored many young activists in advancing their social justice causes.^[4]

Lear was a founder of the Medical Committee for Human Rights. As part of his efforts on this committee, he was one of 30 doctors who picketed the 1963 conference of the American Medical Association in Atlantic City, New Jersey, protesting the organization's segregationist policies of the time. This protest resulted in significant media attention for Lear.^[8]

LGBT advocacy[]

Lear advocated for a large number of organizations dedicated to the advancement of LGBT rights.^[8] Among these, Lear was a co-founder of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, which later became known as the William Way Center. He was additionally a co-founder of the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force and the Maternity Care Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.^[4] Lear was an organizer of the first national conference on AIDS in the 1980s.^[1]

Personal life[]

Lear was married to opera singer Evelyn Lear from 1945 to 1952, with whom he had two children. Later, Lear's life partner was James F. Payne, a relationship that began in 1953 and continued until the time of Lear's death.^[1]

Lear publicly disclosed that he was gay in 1975. He subsequently stated that he likely would have never received his public health appointments for government service had he been openly gay. Although there was initial controversy after Lear's disclosure, he received strong support from fellow physicians.^[1]

Lear reported that his interest in medical activism dated to 1943 when he attended presentations in New York City by Morris Fishbein, of the Postwar Planning Committee of the American Medical Association, and J. Peters, of the Physicians' Committee to Improve Medical Practice. These presentations addressed the state of medical care in the United States at that time.^[9]

Lear was a competitive amateur swimmer, having competed in the 75-80 age bracket in swimming at the Gay Olympics.^[1]

Death[]

Lear died of kidney failure as a complication of multiple myeloma. At the time of his death, he was living in the Powelton Village neighborhood of Philadelphia and had been in hospice care.^[1]

Honors and legacy[]

In 2006, Lear received the Helen Rodriguez Trias Social Justice Award, presented by the American Public Health Association, which is given to those who have worked for social justice of the disadvantaged population.^[10]

Late in his life, Lear increasingly turned his attention to the documentation of the history of medicine. He established fellowships on this subject through the U.S. Health Left History Center.^[11]

Lear established the U.S. Health Activism History Collection, which is housed at the University of Pennsylvania library, as of the time of Lear's death. The scope of the collection includes holdings on: health care and policy, medical reform efforts, poverty, civil rights, and women's health, and other special topics. The School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania also maintains a collection of Lear's papers and correspondence from the time period 1944 to 1964.^[5]

The William Way LGBT Community Center maintains a collection of papers and correspondence from Walter Lear's career for the period 1975 to 1996.^[12]

References[]

External links[]

• U. S. Health Activism History Collection (Walter J. Lear U.S. Health Activism History Collection)
• Walter Lear collection (1944-1964) at the Barbara Bates Center for The Study of The History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
• Walter Jay Lear Papers, held by William Way LGBT Community Center