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Dr. Taliaferro Clark
U.S. Public Health Service Physician Who Initiated the Tuskegee Syphilis Study
USPHS physician who proposed and launched the Tuskegee study in 1932, establishing the deceptive recruitment framework before handing control to Vonderlehr
Overview
Dr. Taliaferro Clark (1867-1948) was the head of the U.S. Public Health Service's Section of Venereal Diseases who conceived and initiated the Tuskegee syphilis study in 1932. Clark had previously worked with the Rosenwald Fund on syphilis treatment demonstration programs in the rural South. When the Fund's resources dried up during the Great Depression, Clark saw the untreated Black men of Macon County, Alabama as an opportunity to study the long-term effects of untreated syphilis. He proposed a six-to-eight month observational study of existing cases. Clark originally stated the study should include a treatment phase, but when Raymond Vonderlehr pushed to make it non-therapeutic and indefinite, Clark did not object. Clark recruited the cooperation of Dr. Robert Moton, president of Tuskegee Institute, and Macon County health officials by framing the study as a treatment program. Under his direction, the deceptive language of offering "free treatment for bad blood" was established. Clark retired from USPHS in 1933, shortly after the study began, but the foundational deceptions he helped create persisted for 40 years. His original intent may have been less malicious than what the study became under Vonderlehr, but he bears responsibility for establishing the framework of deception and for failing to ensure informed consent or eventual treatment of the subjects.
Key Affiliations
United States Public Health Service
Head, Section of Venereal Diseases; proposed and initiated the Tuskegee syphilis study in 1932
agency
Rosenwald Fund
Previously collaborated on syphilis treatment demonstration projects in the rural South before repurposing the framework for the Tuskegee study
organization
Tuskegee Institute
Recruited the cooperation of Tuskegee Institute under Robert Moton to provide institutional cover and facilities for the study
organization
Controversies & Concerns
Conceived the Tuskegee syphilis study, proposing to observe untreated syphilis in Black men in Macon County, Alabama
Established the deceptive recruitment framework telling subjects they would receive "free treatment for bad blood" when the study was observational, not therapeutic
Recruited Tuskegee Institute's cooperation by framing the study as beneficial to the community
Failed to ensure informed consent procedures for the 399 men enrolled with syphilis and 201 control participants
Did not object when Vonderlehr expanded the study from a short-term observation into an indefinite non-treatment experiment
Original study design contained no provision for treating subjects if their condition deteriorated
Allowed the racial assumptions common in 1930s medicine to drive study design, including the discredited "Oslo study" comparisons
Related Investigations (1)
Criminal Charges & Violations
1 documented violations
pendingNo criminal charges were ever filed(N/A)
Known Associates & Connections
Raymond Vonderlehr
USPHS colleague who took over the Tuskegee study from Clark and transformed it into a permanent non-treatment experiment
Eunice Rivers
Nurse recruited to maintain subject compliance; carried out Clark's and Vonderlehr's protocols for 40 years
Oliver C. Wenger
PHS officer who advised on the study design and helped prevent subjects from receiving treatment
Robert Russa Moton
President of Tuskegee Institute who agreed to institutional cooperation, lending credibility to the study
Sources & Documentation
4 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports
James H. Jones, Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (Free Press, 1981; expanded 1993)(1981)
Susan M. Reverby, Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy (UNC Press, 2009)(2009)
CDC, "The Tuskegee Timeline"(2024)
Allan M. Brandt, "Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study," Hastings Center Report 8(6), December 1978(1978)
Personal Information
- Born
- 1867
Education
- •Medical degree (details not fully documented in surviving records)
Key Timeline
1867
Born in the United States
1920s
Works with the Rosenwald Fund on syphilis treatment demonstration programs for Black communities in the rural South
1932-06
Proposes a six-to-eight month observational study of untreated syphilis among Black men in Macon County, Alabama after Rosenwald Fund treatment program ends
1932-09
Recruits cooperation of Tuskegee Institute president Robert Moton and Macon County health officials using deceptive framing
1932-10
Study begins enrolling subjects under Clark's direction; 399 men with syphilis and 201 controls recruited with false promises of treatment
1932-12
Raymond Vonderlehr takes increasing control of the study, pushing to make it long-term and non-therapeutic
1933
Clark retires from USPHS; the study continues under Vonderlehr's direction, expanding into a decades-long experiment
1948-06-28
Dies, 24 years before the study he created would be publicly exposed by Jean Heller of the Associated Press