Francis M. Pottenger Sr.

Francis Marion Pottenger (27 September 1869 – 10 June 1961) was an American physician and tuberculosis researcher.

Francis M. Pottenger Sr.
Born	(1869-09-27)27 September 1869 Crosby Township, Ohio
Died	10 June 1961(1961-06-10) (aged 91) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Physician

Biography

Pottenger obtained his MD from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery in 1894.^[1] He qualified A.M. from Otterbein University in 1907 and L.L.D. in 1909.^[2] His wife Carrie Burtner died from tuberculosis in 1898 which prompted him to establish the Pottenger Sanitorium in Monrovia, California in 1903.^[1][2] It became the most successful sanitorium in Southern California due to its high recovery rates.^[3] Pottenger advocated the use of tuberculin which he believed would create a hostile environment for tuberculosis.^[4]

Pottenger founded the Southern California Anti-Tuberculosis League in 1903 for which he was President 1903–1906 and 1939–1941.^[1] He was President of the Endocrine Society 1935–1937.^[5] In the 1940s, Pottenger was chairman of the Smog Committee of the Los Angeles County Medical Association.^[3]

He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, aged 91.^[6]

Family

Pottenger married several times. He married his first wife Carrie Burtner in 1894.^[2] He had several children with his second wife Adelaide Gertrude. His son Francis M. Pottenger Jr. was also a physician.

His sister Nellie Maude Pottenger was married to Finis E. Fouts, a soybean pioneer.^[7]

Selected publications

• Culture Products in the Treatment of Tuberculosis (1902)
• The Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (1908)^[8]
• Tuberculin in Diagnosis and Treatment (1913)
• Symptoms of Visceral Disease (1919)
• Clinical Tuberculosis (1922)
• Tuberculosis and How to Combat It: A Book for the Patient (1929)^[9]
• The Fight Against Tuberculosis: An Autobiography (1952)^[10]