Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, Consumer Watchdog

Although the papers of Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley (1844-1930) are in a separate collection bearing his own name in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, his 100-page mimeograph, Letter to President Coolidge on Enforcement of the Pure Food and Drug Laws to Protect Consumers, with accompanying material, is preserved in the papers of his wife, Anna Kelton Wiley. (DIRECTORY NOTE Anna Kelton Wiley Papers)

Dr. Wiley's letter and accompanying material tracing the administration responses were also published, in condensed form, in two issues of Good Housekeeping Magazine: the September 1925 issue (not included in the collection) and the February 1926 issue. Good Housekeeping introduced the material with a statement, set off in a box, announcing that Dr. Wiley had not, since leaving the U.S. Department of Agriculture, felt confident "until now that there was in the White House a man who could be counted on to make the issue [of enforcement of the Food and Drug Acts] a personal one. He has every reason to believe -- and in this we share his confidence -- that President Coolidge will issue the necessary orders, removing the illegal restrictions that have been nullifying the law."

Both Dr. Wiley and his wife were leaders in the fight for improved consumer health and safety in relation to food, drug and beverage products on the market. From 1883 to 1912, Dr. Wiley was Chief Chemist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the prime mover, in 1906, behind passage of the Food and Drug Act. After leaving government, he raised dairy cows on his own farm and thus gained experience in the industry side of the consumer equation, although, as is clear from his Letter to President Coolidge, this did not abate his consumer activism.

During the 1920s, Dr. Wiley secured an audience for his consumer protection views as director of Good Housekeeping Magazine's Bureau of Foods, Sanitation, and Health. The magazine regularly featured his column, Dr. Wiley's Question-Box, in which he responded to letters from readers-consumers.