Samuel Hopkins Adams and the Great American Fraud

Samuel Hopkins Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York, on January 26, 1871, to Myron Adams, a minister, and Hester Rose. He attended Hilton College in Clinton, New York. Straight out of college Adams began working for the New York Sun (Good, page 60). Two years later, Adams got his big break as a journalist. He joined an “up-and-coming, cutting-edge journal with insightful, accurately reported, human edge articles”-- McClure’s (Merriman, page 1). In 1906 Adams joined Collier’s Weekly and began a prolific career in muckraking.

Adams is most known for his series of articles, “The Great American Fraud” (Merriman, page 1). Begun in Collier’s on October 7, 1905, it has been described as a “startling disclosure of the medical patent industry, its methods, its dramatis personae and its effects” (Cassedy, pages 85-86).  Adams attacked not only the makers of patent medicines, but also their accomplices in the press. Many newspapers and magazines of the era protected the patent medicine industry because they were reluctant to lose the lucrative advertising of patent medicine makers (Adams, page 1).

Adams began his series by claiming that Americas were gullible for spending $75 million in 1906 on patent medicines. He argued that the patent medicine industry robbed money and lives by creating drunkards and drug-fiends. He cited the example of “Kopp’s Baby Friend,” which was marketed as the perfect way to calm down babies, but, in fact, was sweetened water and morphine (Wood, page 1). He claimed that “fraud, exploited by the skillfulest of advertising bunco men, is the basis of the trade” (Adams, page 1).

Adam’s expose contributed to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required, among other things, that medicines be properly labeled as to their ingredients. Adams influenced the American Medical Association to form the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, which investigated patent medicines and patent medicine testimonials by physicians. “The Great American Fraud” also inspired the Journal of the AMA to attack patent medicines. It even released a pamphlet of “The Great American Fraud,” which sold 500,000 copies (McCoy, page 1).

 In his fight against the patent medicine industry, Adams found himself battling the government’s highest officials. Adams was disgusted by the Referee Board set up by President Theodore Roosevelt and Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson.The Referee Board worked with the food industry to actually undercut the Pure Food and Drug Act. In 1912, “Adams reported that a conservative Supreme Court interpretation . . . held that the 1906 act did not actually prohibit misleading labels of drugs or patent medicines.” Adams’ response to the Supreme Court interpretation was to arouse public opinion and Congress in hopes that outrage would cause the government to enforce the Pure Food and Drug Act (Cassedy, page 86).

Throughout Adams muckraking career, he also targeted workers’ housing conditions in Pittsburgh, the advertising industry, and the California lemon monopoly. But Adam's most influencial work concentrated on public health in America (Cassedy, page 85).

He tapped his muckraking experiences for his 1914 novel, Clarion, which gave a version of his fight against patent medicine evils. Adams also used the Clarion to give vent to the frustrations of reformers and health officers. Clarion caused great controversy by portraying newspapers as prostituting themselves for business. Many publications were so offended that they refused to advertise the book and many stores wouldn’t sell it (Cassedy, page 88).

In the novel, Hal Surtaine is a twenty-five-year-old son of a quack who made a fortune selling patent medicines. Publications begin to denounce Hal’s father, so Hal responds by purchasing the publication. Soon enough, though, Hal changes his perspective on the industry realizing that journalists should be teachers and preachers that could tear down corruption. Hal changes his publication, despite this leading to libel threats and withdrawn advertisers. Hal eventually exposes his father’s patent medicine business and criticizes the love of his life because she owns one of the tenements where a typhoid epidemic is raging. Eventually the advertisers come back to his paper and his father and lover admit they are wrong and change their ways. The novel portrayed a journalistic hero that assured the public that the press would fight on the side of the common man and that solutions for the world’s greatest problems do exist (Good, page 61).

Other novels about newspapers crusaders written by Adams include, Common Cause (1919) and Success (1921) (Good, page 61).

Throughout his career Adams exposed the patent medicine industry as an evil that was destroying America. While the problems that Adams aimed to eradicate aren’t  vanquished, American society has made great leaps to protect the public from tainted food and drugs.  The changes ushered in by Adams are still felt to this day, and through his work Adams has proven that the power of journalism can defeat corruption.

Adams, Samuel Hopkins. (Oct. 7, 1905). "The Great American Fraud." Collier's The National Weekly.

                   This is an introductory article to a series in which Adams investigated the American health industry. The series is Adam's most famous work and  helped  lead to many changes in how helath care and pharmacueticals are regulated.

Cassedy, James H.  (Spring, 1964). “Muckraking and Medicine: Samuel Hopkins Adams.” American Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 85-99.

                This article discusses Adam’s career and his significance to American medicine and the business of muckraking journalism.  It discusses major articles and periodicals that made Adams' reputation.

Good, Howard. (1986). "Acquainted with the Night- the Image of Journalists in American Fiction, 1890-1930." The Scarecrow Press Inc.

               This book discusses many of America's most known journalists and how they transformed their career by writing fiction novels. The book describes how Adams used the knowledge he gained from his career as a muckraker to expand his career as a fiction writer.

McCoy, Bob. (Aug. 21, 1999). "Overview: The Great American Fraud." The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. <http://www.museumofquackery.com/ephemera/overview.htm>

                   This article offers a brief overview of Adam's "The Great American Fraud." It describes the importance of Adam's work and the implications his articles had the medical industry.

Merriman, C.D. (2006). “Samuel Hopkins Adams.” The Literature Network. Jalic Inc. <http://www.online-literature.com/samuel-hopkins-adams/#>

             This biographical article discusses Adam’s life, highlighting his education, major journalism works, personal life, and novels and short stories.

Sweeney, Michael S. (Winter 1999-2000). “Samuel Hopkins Adams and the Business of Writing.” Journalism History, Vol. 25, No. 4, p. 157. 

                This book review examines Adam’s most famous series of articles, “The Great American Fraud." The series analyzed America’s health industry and brought needed change to American health care. Adam's works were  published in Collier’s, one of the top muckraking magazines.

Wood, Wayne. (July 2, 2005). "The Quack and the Dead." Special Collection Digital Library. <http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/biolib/hc/nostrums/nostrums.html>

                This section of an online article examines Adam's investigation of the medical industry and his impact on society. The article quotes Adams and summarizes his ideas.