Frederick J. Bancroft

rdf:langString Frederick J. Bancroft

rdf:langString Frederick J. Bancroft (May 25, 1834 – January 17, 1903) was a surgeon during the Civil War before he settled in Colorado, where he was considered to be "one of the most prominent physicians", according to a San Francisco Chronicle obituary. In the late 1870s, he and the Denver Medical Association created the public health system for Denver, Colorado to improve the health of its citizens. In 1876, Bancroft was the first president of Colorado's State Board of Health. He became Colorado Medical Society president in 1880. Bancroft was a founder and professor of the University of Denver and Colorado Seminary Medical Department in 1881. Bancroft advocated for public health measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and licensing prostitutes to reduce the prevalence of syphilis. He was concerned about the public health issues due to a lack of sewage systems, regulation of the distance between outhouses and wells, disposal of human and animal refuse in the streets and rivers, and the extent to which animals roamed through Denver city streets. It was not until a major flood in 1878 triggered an epidemic that construction of the city's sewer system began. Bancroft, who believed in the importance of pasteurized milk, operated a dairy farm in the Bancroft community, which became part of Lakewood in 1969. He wrote about climatology and how certain diseases were affected by climate, which garnered national attention. He was a founder and first president of the State Historical and National History Society of Colorado, now called History Colorado. Colorado's Mount Bancroft is named for him.