Charles Norris (medical examiner)
Encyclopedia
Charles Norris was New York
's first appointed chief medical examiner (1918–1935) and pioneer of forensic toxicology
in America.
's College of Physicians and Surgeons, earning a doctorate in medicine in 1892. After studying for four years in Europe, he returned to New York, and in 1904 became the laboratory director at Bellevue and Allied Hospitals.
immediately took legal action against him, claiming that in performing autopsies as part of the examination he had violated the law. Fortunately for Norris, the state government took notice and intervened, forcing Hylan to appoint Norris chief medical examiner.
Norris immediately set about improving his department. After hiring several distinguished scientists and chemists, including Alexander Gettler, he was forced, due to the lack of any supplies, to buy them all out of his own money. Other problems included the possibility of his workers being drafted to serve in the army (which he solved by writing to Hylan), and the low salaries of his workers, which averaged less than $4,000 a year.
's plant, which was soon nicknamed the "looney gas building" due to the insanity of the workers there. Although Standard Oil had tried to deny that the deaths were due to tetraethyl lead, New Jersey ordered the plant shut down. Unfortunately, a federal investigation failed to find a link between tetraethyl lead and the ailments of the workers, and the plant resumed production soon afterwards.
, hoping to improve his health. Unfortunately, however, once he returned in late August, his health steadily deteriorated. He died at 8:30 p.m. on September 11, 1935, of heart failure.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's first appointed chief medical examiner (1918–1935) and pioneer of forensic toxicology
Forensic toxicology
Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical chemistry to aid medical or legal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use...
in America.
Early life
Norris was born on December 4, 1867. He was first educated at Cutler's Private School in Manhattan, later entering Yale University and earning a Ph.D in science. He then went to Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's College of Physicians and Surgeons, earning a doctorate in medicine in 1892. After studying for four years in Europe, he returned to New York, and in 1904 became the laboratory director at Bellevue and Allied Hospitals.
New York medical examiner
In 1917, Norris, applying for the job of chief medical examiner, took a civil service examination and passed. Mayor John F. HylanJohn F. Hylan
John Francis Hylan , nicknamed "Red Mike", was the Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925.-Biography:Hylan was born in Hunter, New York a town in upstate Greene County where his family owned a farm. Hylan married young, became dissatisfied with farm life and moved to Brooklyn with his bride, and...
immediately took legal action against him, claiming that in performing autopsies as part of the examination he had violated the law. Fortunately for Norris, the state government took notice and intervened, forcing Hylan to appoint Norris chief medical examiner.
Norris immediately set about improving his department. After hiring several distinguished scientists and chemists, including Alexander Gettler, he was forced, due to the lack of any supplies, to buy them all out of his own money. Other problems included the possibility of his workers being drafted to serve in the army (which he solved by writing to Hylan), and the low salaries of his workers, which averaged less than $4,000 a year.
Fremont and Annie Jackson
On 27 April 1922, husband and wife Fremont and Annie Jackson were found dead in their room in the Hotel Margaret, killed by hydrogen cyanide seeping up from the basement, which had been recently fumigated. After Norris confirmed that the Jacksons had been killed by cyanide poisoning, he tried to press charges against both the owner of the Hotel Margaret and its fumigator. Unfortunately, due to the effectiveness of the defendants' lawyers, they both were acquitted.Tetraethyl lead and the "looney gas building"
In 1924, Norris was called in to investigate the mysterious insanity and deaths of workers in a plant that made tetraethyl lead. It was mostly made in Standard OilStandard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
's plant, which was soon nicknamed the "looney gas building" due to the insanity of the workers there. Although Standard Oil had tried to deny that the deaths were due to tetraethyl lead, New Jersey ordered the plant shut down. Unfortunately, a federal investigation failed to find a link between tetraethyl lead and the ailments of the workers, and the plant resumed production soon afterwards.
Death
In the spring of 1935, Norris began to feel ill. He began staying away from public events. That summer, he took a vacation to South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, hoping to improve his health. Unfortunately, however, once he returned in late August, his health steadily deteriorated. He died at 8:30 p.m. on September 11, 1935, of heart failure.