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no, qi i WILLIAM S. SADLER: CHAUTAUQUA’S MEDIC ORATOR G. Vonne Meussling A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 1970 Approved by Doctoral Committee B8UB GREEN STATE IKQVER&TY UBRARt 3^% W 47012 ii ABSTRACT This study of William S. Sadler (1875-1969), physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, professor, and author of forty-two books, investigates that phase of his career devoted to oratory. It concentrates upon the period 1905 to 1926 when he was a popular lecturer on Chautauqua platforms. It traces the influences which molded his public speaking interest from a high school commencement address delivered at the age of eight to the decision to become a public lecturer. This was unprecedented in an era when concepts of the American Medical Associa­ tion did not permit doctors to advertise. He was a student of Sigmund Freud, an associate of Alfred Adler, Karl Jung and John Harvey Kellogg. These associations were evidenced as influential factors in his career. The purpose of this study was to analyze rhetorically those elements of Sadler's speeches on preventive medicine which governed his oral contributions. His message focused on the education of the masses so as to counteract public ignorance, medical quackery, and harmful patent remedies. The study revealed that audiences were eager for authentic health information. Sadler had no published biography; however, the writer had access to his personal papers and books. Letters attesting to his popularity as a speaker were found in Special Collections at the University of Iowa. Early speeches were discovered at The John Crerar Library in Chicago. Sadler would not be classified as a great orator; yet, he gained audience appeal through a unique style and implementation of histrionics and humor. iii DEDICATION A tribute to my mother MARY IZETTA SITCLER whose example of perseverance and whose encouragement of excellence have always served as a source of inspiration for her daughter iv © G. Vonne Meussling 1970 AL1 Rights Reserved V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special acknowledgement and appreciation is extended to my maJor professor, Dr. John T. Rickey, whose academic discipline has been a source of inspiration and guidance throughout my doctoral program. A word of gratitude is also expressed to Professors Ray B. Browne, Raymond Yeager and Nelson R. Ober for their interest, advice, and assistance during this study. Warm appreciation is conveyed to my husband, who has been too considerate to be acknowledged adequately, and to my children: Stephen, Mark, Vonne, and Todd, whose implicit confidence in their mother was a forceful impetus. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.................................. 1 Statement of the Purpose .................................................................... 1 Background Data........................................................................................ 2 Related Research..................................................... 12 Justification of the Study ........................................... 14 Design of the Study............................. 16 Significant Sources .............................. 20 Primary Sources ................................................................................... 20 Summary.................................................................... 21 II. THE ORATOR . .......................................................................................................... 22 III. THE OCCASION........................................................... 62 IV. THE AUDIENCE....................................................................................................... 91 V. THE SPEECH............................................................................................................ 124 Dispositio................................................................................... 126 Electro........................................................................................ 131 Inventio ....................... 138 Ethos .................. ...... 138 Pathos ....................................... ............... 145 Logos...................................................................................:.... 155 VI. SUMMATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................... 166 Summations . -.............................................................................. 166 vii CHAPTER Page Conclusions ................................................................................................. 174 The orator.................................................................................................. 174 The occasion............................................................................................. 176 The audience........................................... 176 The speech . ............................. 177 Recommendations........................................................................ 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........ ....................................... .................... .... 179 I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION For fifteen years William S. Sadler, a surgeon and psychiatrist, spoke to Chautauqua audiences across the country concerning "preventive medicine." It was his belief that the lay public had the inalienable right to be exposed to the latest medical knowledge in order to help themselves prevent illness and disease. He spoke in an era when established concepts of the American Medical Association did not permit doctors to advertise or to work for any organization that did. At the beginning of the twentieth century the public press was the primary media of information, but it did not carry columns on health. Sadler believed that oral discourse was an important tool in a democratic society; he used this tool to promote the popularization of physical hygiene and preventive medicine at the risk of being censured by the Medical Association for advertising. There are many facets to Sadler’s career. He was an active surgeon, psychiatrist, professor, and author. Since this study will be confined to his speaking, it will refer to these other activities only insofar as they contribute to the under­ standing of him as a speaker. Statement of the Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze rhetorically those elements of Sadler’s speeches on preventive medicine which governed his 1 2 oral contributions to the American people between 1905 and 1926. In this critical process the methodology employed will be based upon the traditional components of analysis: the orator, the occasion, the audience, and the speech. Background Data It should be possible to assess Sadler's audiences by reviewing the literature. The insights into the customs, attitudes, beliefs, and needs of the people in his audiences will provide criteria for the measurement of Sadler's relevance and adaptiveness, and will offer a primary basis for the Justification of the study. By today's standards, few citizens in the first quarter of the twentieth century had the advantages of higher education. In fact, ", . it was not until 1918 that all forty-eight states adopted com­ pulsory education; even at that time most states began by requiring only two or three years' attendance at a grammar school."1 Before the beginning of the radio in 1920,2 Americans derived most of their know­ ledge of national and world affairs from the newspapers. "Each city of any size relied primarily for its news on papers which were published locally and gave considerable attention to local events."3 The 1Henry Bamford Parkes and Vincent P. Carosso Crescent, America: A Historyj Book One: 1900-t93Z (New York, 1963), p. 91. 2Ward L. Quaal and Leo A. Martin, Broadcast Management (New York, 1969), p. 41. 3Ibid., p. 95. 3 tremendous appeal of the traveling Chautauquas resulted from a combina­ tion of the American’s thirst for sophisticated information, for enter­ tainment, and the absence of other means by which such information might be acquired. Thus, the Chautauquas served primarily to make a social, cultural, and educational contribution to the people of rural America. Sadler saw the need and decided to use this opportunity to teach health education. A brief review of health statistics between 1900 and today indicates the situational factors of this era. Life tables for the United States covering the years 1900-1902 indicate a life expectancy for white males of 48.2, for white females of 51.1; nonwhites had life J? expectancy predictions of approximately twelve years less.11 Cleanliness had become one of the primary postulates in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Early superstitions in the belief that the frequent use of soap was harmful to the skin and the religious dogma that related the custom of undressing for bathing to the original sin, had overdeveloped modesty.*5 Thomlinson reported that medical science made great advances against the ravages of disease in the last fifty to one hundred years but was only a rudimentary art prior to that time.6 James B. Conant, ^Ralph Thomlinson, Population Dynamics : Causes and Consequences of World Demographic Change (New York, 1965), p. 117. Hereafter cited as Thomlinson, Population. 5Henry Sigerist, M.D., Civilization and Disease (Ithaca, New York, 1944), p. 27. 6Thomlinson, Population, p. 95. li in 1952, wrote: "It is probable that only within this century have medical men and surgeons helped more people than they have inJured—one

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