ABSTRACT
Health boards sprang up throughout the country as Smith’s New York City Board showed the way, but they were often powerless and underfunded. Smith added engineering and additional laboratory expertise to his board; however, his ambitious community goals upset practicing physicians and commercial interests. He and Chandler organized an epic clean-out of the filthy Washington Market in 1873. He led other activities during the 1873–1875 period, including consolidating the American Public Health Association, bringing medical licensing into public health, and developing a successful smallpox management strategy. Having nurtured the APHA through its growing pains and put the city health board on solid footing, Smith returned to academia in 1875.
