Origin Stories

Impetus behind the SHC archive project

Margaret Ecker and John Davis offer insight about the initial impetus behind and collective vision for the SHC archive project. They cite the collective memory restoration that transpired at a 2012 Landon House reunion, the subsequent inspiration to further uncover stories about their post-Coalition trajectories, and a shared and rising sense of mortality as together …

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On the role of corporate land ownership in rural land settlement patterns

Following a 1977 flood in central Appalachia that left many people displaced, John Gaventa and others at the Highlander Center organized a study to counter conclusions by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), which failed to consider the role of corporate control and land ownership in land settlement patterns. Here, Gaventa delineates the study’s early days …

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Context behind and origin of the 1971 land ownership study

John Gaventa delineates the context and probing question behind his earliest research into land ownership in Appalachia, as proposed in collaboration with Bill Dow: why are some of the wealthiest, natural resource-rich counties in East Tennessee also the poorest (in terms of overall living conditions and with regard to funding for public services, such as …

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On the development of Vanderbilt’s Nurse Practitioner program and other critical role expansions

Pete Moss describes one of the key developments that came about as a result, at least in part, of the Student Health Coalition’s philosophical contributions to the medical arena. He references the origination and evolution of Vanderbilt’s Nurse Practitioner (NP) program as such, framing it to have been a monumental shift in the ongoing expansion …

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Pete Moss on mentorship and expanding the boundaries of healthcare workers

Pete Moss, who at the time of his involvement with early SHC health fairs (1970) was Vanderbilt’s Chief Resident of Pediatrics, discusses what drew him to the Coalition: the opportunity to mentor students and influence their pursuits in the medical field through a lens of community-based primary care. Follow this link for access to the …

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Bill Corr reflects on the Coalition’s and Center’s roles in providing avenues to act on values

Bill Corr recounts his introduction to the Student Health Coalition (SHC) and Center for Health Services (CHS) shortly after graduating from Vanderbilt Law School. He was working with the Tennessee Department of Public Health at the time Irwin Venick encouraged him to get involved. Having done so, Bill Corr now reflects back on the SHC’s …

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Coeducation at Vanderbilt

Charles Scott, professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and early supporter of the Student Health Coalition (SHC), frames the development of coeducation and feminist-driven policy reform under Chancellor Alexander Heard and the Dean of Women, Margaret Cunningham–ongoing at the time he and Bill Dow first met–as the catalyst of a shift in the higher-education landscape …

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“We had to work with one hand and fight with the other”

Kate Bradley narrates the process by which Mountain Peoples Health Council (MPHC) acquired land to build the Petros Clinic. She describes the stiff political atmosphere in Nashville, where she went to plead her case before a judge, and explains why local response to MPHC being granted the land was less than enthused: ignorance and jealousy. …

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