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To the Editor:—
On July 27, 1942 an epochal event in industrial medicine and dermatology took place. At the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Md., twenty men from various parts of the United States were gathered together to take the first intensive course in occupational dermatoses ever given in this country. The group was there in response to the idea and plan of Dr. Louis Schwartz, Chief of Dermatoses Investigation Section, Division of Industrial Hygiene, United States Public Health Service. There was a fairly representative cross section of dermatologists, not only geographically but from the standpoint of age and experience.At 10 o'clock in the morning Dr. Schwartz called the class to order and welcomed us. We were then addressed by Assistant Surgeon General Warren F. Draper and Dr. James G. Townsend, Director of the Division of Industrial Hygiene. Later Surgeon General Thomas Parran and Dr. Rolla E. Dyer, Chief