DR. ELIZABETH GUNN HONOURED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 68, 21 March 1940, Page 4

DR. ELIZABETH GUNN HONOURED

TRIBUTES TO HER WORK BY EDUCATION BOARD PIONEER OF HEALTH CAMP MOVEMENT. Dr. Elizabeth Gunn, Director of the Division of School Hygiene of the Health Department, since 1937, who will retire on March 31, was the guest of honour at a gathering at the Wanganui Education Board meeting yesterday, when tribute was paid to her services when she was associated with the Wanganui Board. ‘We are proud to have the pioneer of the New Zealand Health Camp Movement as our guest to-day” said the chairman, Mr. E. F. Hemingway, when addressing Dr. Gunn. He said that it only seemed yesterday when the first health camp was held at Turakina. From that small beginning the movement had spread right through the Dominion, and the Wanganui Board was glad to acknowledge the work of Dr. Gunn. In Gonville, Wanganui, had one of the best health camps in the country. It was only right that it should be so, said Mr. Hemingway, as the movement had its beginning in Wanganui, in association with the Education Board. He referred to the assistance given by the late Mr. B. P. Lethbridge, of Turakina, in the early stages of the health camp work, and wished Dr. Gunn, a happy retirement. Tribute By Inspectors. Mr. B. T. N. Blake, senior inspector of schools, said the inspectors appreciated the great work Dr. Gunn had accomplished for the children in the Wanganui Education district. He conveyed best wishes to Dr. Gunn in her retirement. Mr. G. N. Boulton, secretary of the board, spoke of the cordial relations which had always existed between Dr. Gunn and the board. Other tributes were paid by Mr. A. S. Coleman and Mr. E. R. Hodge, architect. Dr. Gunn thanked the various speakers for their expressions of goodwill, and said that she would always remember the happy time spent when attached to the Wanganui Education Board. The board had been ever ready to assist her in her work. She thanked the members of the staff for their co-operation, and assistance which was always willingly given. Dr. Gunn’s Career. In 1912, when authority for the compulsory medical inspection of State Schools was placed on the Statute Book, the original staff consisted of two men and two women. One of the women was Dr. Ada Paterson, who became director of the service in 1933, and the other was Dr. Gunn, who was appointed director after Dr. Paterson’s death in 1937. When the work was begun, there was no office accommodation, there were no nurses and no clerks, yet during 1913 a total of 333 primary schools were visited and 12,357 children medically examined. Of these, 7661 were pupils in Standard II taken at routine examination and 4696 were special cases thought by teachers to be suffering from some defects. That year] also, the heights and weights of 17,000 ■ children were observed and recorded, i Passing of Health Act. With the passing of the Health Act in 1920, the officers of the medical inspection of schools branch were transferred from the Education Department of Health. This transfer took place in 1921, when the branch came directly under the cntrol of a director appointed to take charge of the

newly-created Division of School Hygiene (Dr. E. H. Wilkins). Dr. Gunn's work on behalf of the health camp movement is well known. In 1919, Dr. Gunn, then school medical officer in Wanganui, inaugurated the first health camp for delicate children. This camp for 50 children was held on the property of the late Mr. B. P. Lethbridge, Turakina, and it was with his help and the help of the Wanganui Education Board that the camps which were held in that district till 1930 were so successful. The health camp movement has since spread all over New Zealand, and under the aegis of the late Dr. Ada Paterson, a National Federation of Health Camps was formed in 1936. This preserved the voluntary nature of the organisations while ensuring that the available resources wereaised to the best advantage. *