Oral history interview with Willis Butler, 1978

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Name: Butler, Willis P (Interviewee); Courtwright, David T., 1952- (Interviewer)
Title: Oral history interview with Willis Butler, 1978
Other Titles: Reminiscences of W.P. Butler, 1978; Oral history of W.P. Butler, 1978
Abstract: In this interview, Willis P. Butler discusses how he treated narcotic addicts at his clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana. He describes how he detoxed healthy patients, but maintained terminally ill or incurable patients on a steady dose of morphine. He discusses how the clinic aimed to serve residents of Shreveport only, and practices through which clinic staff verified that patients were residents. He discusses how each patient underwent a background check, which also verified their place of residence and employment. He explains how many patients suffered from underlying conditions such as asthma, tuberculosis, rheumatism, and most prominently, venereal disease, and how the clinic treated these conditions in addition to the patients' narcotic addictions. He speculates about the etiology of the drug addiction cases. Butler recalls the strong opposition to his work at the clinic that he received from other doctors in the field. He discusses his clinic being investigated, and being ordered to close
Collection Name: Addicts Who Survived oral history collection
Subjects: Drug addicts--United States; Drug abuse--Treatment--Louisiana; Drug control--History--20th century.--United States; Drug abuse--History--20th century.--United States; Morphine abuse--History--20th century.--United States; Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States; Drugs--Prescribing; Butler, Willis P
Format: oral histories
Genre: Interviews
Date: 1978

Physical Description: 73 pages
Note (Biographical): Willis P. Butler was born on January 24, 1888 in Gibsland, Louisiana. He earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt, and completed post graduate studies at both Columbia and Cornell University. He worked as a pathologist at Bellevue Hospital in New Yor k City. He opened a clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana in May 1919 where he treated narcotic addicts, primarily morphine addicts. The clinic closed in February of 1923. Butler served as the Caddo Parish coroner for a total of fifty-six non-consecutive years. He is the author of "Will Somebody Call the Coroner?" Willis Butler was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived
Note: Interviewed by David Courtwright on November 11, 1978
Note (Provenance): David Courtwright, Herman Joseph, and Don Des Jarlais, Gift, 1988
Language: English
Library Location: Columbia Center for Oral History, Columbia University
Catalog Record: 11379978
Persistent URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-pqw0-a271
Related URLs: Available digital content for this interview.