Conrad Elvehjem saved many lives, shouldn’t be canceled By Madison School Board
The Madison School District is consideringrenaming Elvehjem School because its namesake, Conrad Elvehjem, signed a restrictive covenant in 1931 keeping Black people out of a West Side neighborhood. I’d hate for that to be the last word on Elvehjem. He played a much more significant role in Black American history than that.
In the first part of the 20th century, pellagra killed over 100,000 people in the southern U.S. These were mostly poor sharecroppers and, while we don’t have a racial breakdown, it can be assumed that Black people were well represented among its victims.
It was thought to be a contagious disease and mental disorder because of the psychiatric symptoms it caused. Known by the “four Ds”— dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia and, ultimately, death — its victims were stigmatized and often sent to insane asylums. Pellagra resulted in immense suffering and death.
