HSC Feature Article - Search for a Cure: Life at Valmora

 by Peggy McBride, Archivist, Special Collections, Library & Informatics Center

In nineteenth century America, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death. Health seekers looking for a cure began to come to the southwestern United States when European research seemed to establish that clean air, altitude, and sunlight could be therapeutic. New Mexico soon became a destination for “lungers,” who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and were desperately seeking treatment.

Valmora postcard

With the development of the “sanatorium movement,” which established treatment centers so tuberculosis patients would reside together and share an enforced regimen under medical supervision, an infrastructure for a medical industry was built in New Mexico. Between the late 1890s and the mid-1920s, the state built more than forty-four sanatoria. A 1908 study showed New Mexico was fifth in the nation for the number of tuberculosis beds.

In 1904, Dr. William T. Brown, a lunger from Illinois, bought land outside Watrous, New Mexico and established the Valmora Industrial Sanatorium, a residential facility for tubercular workers. Carl H. Gellenthien, a Chicago medical student, was sent to Valmora in 1924 for treatment for his tuberculosis. In 1927, Dr. Gellenthien returned to Valmora to practice medicine and became medical director of the sanatorium in 1935. He practiced medicine at Valmora for more than sixty years. Before he died in 1989, Dr. Gellenthien donated his personal papers and Valmora’s records to the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center (HSLIC).

The Carl H. Gellenthien Collection of the Valmora Industrial Sanatorium Records documents the impact of tuberculosis on New Mexico from 1904-1989. The materials, organized with funds from the New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board, are available for research. An inventory is accessible through the Rocky Mountain Online Archive.

A new exhibit, presented by HSLIC’s New Mexico Health Historical Collection, explores life at Valmora Industrial Sanatorium.

Reception: February 20, 2008, 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the New Mexico Health Historical Collection room (HSLIC room 223)
Lecture: “Involuntary New Mexicans: Lunger Invasion of the Southwest,” presented by Jake Spidle, Ph.D., Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 5:30-6:30 pm. Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education, Room 2112.

The exhibit is on display February 20 – October 31, 2008, in the New Mexico Health Historical Collection Room (HSLIC—223). Hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00-5:00 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, please call (505) 272-6518.


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