Guide to the Maurice Shapiro Environmental Health Collection, 1919-2001 UA.90.F65

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Maurice A. Shapiro Environmental Health Collection
Creator
Shapiro, Maurice A.
Collection Number
UA.90.F65
Extent
42 Linear Feet (41 record center boxes, 2 card file boxes)
Date
1919-2001
Abstract
The Maurice A. Shapiro Environmental Health Collections documents the career and research interests of Maurice A. Shapiro, longtime professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). Shapiro was a noted sanitary engineer and advocate of environmental health whose research interests included air and water pollution, lead poisoning, sewage treatment, and food and housing sanitation. He was also known for his involvement in large national and international projects, several of which are documented here. Also included is material related to his career at the University, including administrative and course material. This collections includes correspondence, reports, publications, pamphlets, notes, papers, and a small amount of audio and visual material.
Language
English .
Author
Ashley Taylor.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Maurice A. Shapiro on October 28, 1999.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Ashley L. Taylor in the fall of 2013.

Previous Citation

Maurice A. Shapiro Environmental Health Collection, 1919-2001, UA.90.F65, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

Maurice A. Shapiro Environmental Health Collection, 1919-2001, UA.90.F65, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Scope and Content Notes

The material in this collection primarily documents Shapiro's research interests, along with his involvement with various environmental health projects and studies. This includes material related to his involvement with the Westernport Bay Environmental Study (based in Victoria, Australia), the Ohio River Basin Energy Study, projects in Israel, the Lake Chad Basin Energy Study (surveying the African countries of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) and various other projects. Also included is a large amount of material related to his areas of research in environmental health, including air and water quality, lead poisoning, sewage treatment, and food and housing sanitation. The collection also includes material related to his career as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, including information on committees he served on, the Graduate School of Public Health's accreditation process, course material, papers from students, and many of Shapiro's own publications and project summaries. The collection includes papers, notes, correspondence, pamphlets, conference proceedings, publications, reports, and a small amount audio recordings and slides.

Biography

Maurice Ansel Shapiro, called Moshe by those who knew him, was a Professor of Sanitary Engineering, Environmental Health Engineering, and Urban Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Born on June 4, 1917 in Denver, Colorado, Shapiro spent much of his childhood in Palestine. His father was employed as a public health physician, and his mother as a social worker. He returned to the United States for college, receiving his undergraduate degree in Biology from Johns Hopkins University in 1941, and his graduate degree in Sanitary Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949. In between receiving his two degrees, he served as a member of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration during World War II as part of the United States Public Health Service. It was then that he met and married his wife, Anne.

After receiving his graduate degree, Shapiro relocated to Pittsburgh to join the newly-opened Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) in 1951 as Assistant Professor of Sanitary Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1958, and finally to Professor of Environmental Health Engineering in 1965. In tandem with his 1965 appointment in GSPH, he became Professor of Urban Affairs at Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). He retained both positions until his retirement in 1982, after which he became Professor Emeritus.

Outside of his academic achievements, Shapiro was passionate about environmental and public health, and was heavily involved in numerous projects and organizations that promoted environmental sanitation. He was a Core Team Member of the Ohio River Basin Energy Study in the 1970s, a consultant for a World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) planning project in Lagos, Nigeria, involved with numerous projects in Israel, among others. One of the projects that he was most proud of was the Western Port Bay Environmental Study in Victoria, Australia. While on sabbatical in 1973 and 1974, Shapiro served as foundation director for the study, which was aimed at protecting the region's ecology.

Shapiro was fondly remembered as a passionate professor and a devoted family member. He was a father of five. His wife, Anne, died in September 2010; he passed away shortly after on November 10, 2010, in Portland, Oregon.

Arrangement

The Maurice A. Shapiro Environmental Health Collection is arranged into six series and numerous subseries. Information about each can be found at the series level.

Series I. Correspondence

Series II. Projects

Series III. Public Health

Series IV. Research Files

Series V. University of Pittsburgh Files

Series VI. Audio and Visual Materials

Related Material

Allegheny County Air Pollution Advisory Committee Records, AIS.1992.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department, Bureau of Air Pollution Control Records, AIS. 1980.07, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records, AIS. 1990.14, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) Records, AIS.1979.21, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • University of Pittsburgh. Graduate School of Public Health -- Accreditation
    • University of Pittsburgh. Graduate School of Public Health -- Faculty
    • University of Pittsburgh -- Faculty
    • American Public Health Association
    • Allegheny County (Pa.). Health Department

    Personal Names

    • Shapiro, Maurice A.

    Geographic Names

    • Israel

    Genres

    • Faculty papers
    • Slides (Microscopy)
    • Sound recordings
    • Correspondence

    Other Subjects

    • Environmental health -- Research.
    • Environmental policy -- Pennsylvania
    • Environmental sciences -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
    • Environmental policy -- International cooperation
    • Air -- Pollution
    • Water -- Pollution -- Pennsylvania
    • Pollution -- Research
    • Public health -- International cooperation
    • Public health -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania
    • Public health administration -- Pennsylvania
    • Ohio River Valley -- Environmental conditions
    • Lead -- Toxicology -- Research
    • Sanitary engineering -- Research
    • Refuse and refuse disposal -- Pennsylvania
    • Factory and trade waste -- Environmental aspects
    • Food handling
    • Environment
    • Environmental policy
    • University of Pittsburgh

Container List