Kilmer House

One of Our Early Employee Volunteers

Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies employees all over the world have a long tradition of volunteering in the community.  It reflects their feelings of responsibility to the communities in which they live and work, and it forms the basis of the third paragraph of Our Credo.  One thing that very few people know is that our tradition of employees volunteering in the community goes back over 100 years…and our earliest records show that it was started by women employees.  So, how did it start?

Another Early Employee Volunteer

Early Johnson & Johnson Volunteers in the Community
The earliest records we have of employee volunteers are from the Laurel Club, an organization of women employees that was started in February of 1907.  The Laurel Club Charter stated:  “The object of the club is to create a center where all may find opportunities of enjoyment and education.”  [Laurel Club Charter, from our archives, 2/14/1907]  From the beginning, volunteering and philanthropy were mentioned.  Nellie R., the Laurel Club president, noted that fundraising in the first year raised money to buy a bed for the General Hospital in New Brunswick, and that proceeds raised from a variety of club activities also paid for a holiday party and gifts for the 100 children at St. Mary’s Orphanage and the Industrial Homes in New Brunswick. 

Besides toys, the Laurel Club volunteers also bought the children hats, mittens, sweaters and other warm clothing.  Nellie R. noted that “All bills for this affair are paid and a balance of $23.00 invested in the J. & J. Savings Bank, to start another of the same nature or perform any act of kindness the club members may deem advisable.”   [Laurel Club Charter, from our archives, 2/14/1907]

The Laurel Club Building – on the corner of Hamilton and Nielson Streets in New Brunswick  – site of volunteer well baby clinics.

Well baby clinics were another early volunteering effort from the Laurel Club members.  The clinics were held for New Brunswick mothers every Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, and the idea was to keep babies well in a population that included many recent immigrants who may not have had access to regular medical care.  The Thursday clinics had a doctor and a nurse on staff.  The babies were weighed and measured every week, and the doctor advised the mothers about feeding, clothing and more.   It was stressed in the July 8, 1919 club correspondence that “NONE except the DOCTOR will be permitted to give medical advise [sic].”  [Laurel Club correspondence, July 8, 1919].  While the doctor advised the women who brought their babies to the clinic, Laurel Club members sat and talked with the mothers and kept the babies amused while they waited to see the doctor.  Viahnett S., the Laurel Club manager in 1919 wrote:  “…to save even one tiny baby will be a splendid reward for the summer work.”  [Laurel Club correspondence, July 8, 1919]. 

Laurel Club Members with wounded soldiers in rehabilitation, 1919

In 1919, after World War I had ended, women employees in the Laurel Club volunteered their time to help wounded soldiers who were being rehabilitated at the U.S. Hospital in Colonia, New Jersey.   Club members brought a number of the soldiers who were able to travel to New Brunswick, took them to a vaudeville show and a huge dinner at the Laurel Club.  (If anyone’s interested, they had a turkey dinner with mince pie and ice cream.)   THE RED CROSS MESSENGER noted that it would be the first of many outings to cheer up the soldiers during their extended stay at the hospital.  During the war, Laurel Club volunteers, combined with the Company’s male employee Glee Club (a singing group), had entertained the soldiers stationed at Camp Raritan with singing and dancing.

Member of the Laurel Club, Early 1900s

Employee Volunteers inside Johnson & Johnson
Employees also volunteered to help their fellow employees in the areas of health and safety.  One hundred years ago, Johnson & Johnson had volunteer first aid squads and fire brigades made up of trained employee volunteers – both men and women.  (Since Johnson & Johnson pioneered the first-ever First Aid Kits and First Aid Manuals, it was a given that the Company would train its own employees in first aid techniques.) 

Fred Kilmer, employee volunteer

Even scientific director Fred Kilmer volunteered, using his expertise in science and public health to teach classes for employees on health, hygiene and other topics.  Kilmer’s classes on hygiene focused on contagious diseases and the means of combating them.  In the days before antibiotics and many vaccines, that was crucial knowledge.  The class even had a written exam that participants had to pass. 

Fred Kilmer’s written exam: you had to study if you took his volunteer classes

Some of the topics covered were germs, disinfection, isolation and antiseptics, as well as the role of house cleaning, fresh air and sunshine in preventing the spread of disease.   Employees had to answer an essay question on how they would prevent contagious disease in their homes (they could choose from scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles or typhoid).  They had to name at least two disinfectants made by Johnson & Johnson (in those days, the Company made a wide variety of public health products), distinguish insect-borne diseases from those spread by animals, and discuss how frequently a person should be vaccinated to guard against smallpox.  The exam was very serious business, as was the class.

Close up of bottom of the Laurel Club hygiene class exam, with handwritten comment from Robert Wood Johnson 

Volunteerism was encouraged by the Company at the highest levels.  Company founder Robert Wood Johnson encouraged his children to give back to the community, including taking flowers to patients in New Brunswick hospitals, and co-founder James Wood Johnson’s family members helped employees make and roll bandages to help wounded soldiers during World War I. 

Another way employees volunteered was through military service and in my next post, I’ll talk about how that started, and led to a tradition that we still have today.

A Chairman and CEO is writing a book.  Having led his company through The Great Depression, he’s concerned with improving living standards to decrease what he sees as a consistent state of scarcity for large parts of the population.  He realizes that his concern about providing goods, services and wages to alleviate scarcity, and in fact the entire future of business itself, depend on something that most people weren’t even thinking about yet:  conserving and sustaining the natural resources of the planet.  The year?  1947.  The business leader:  Robert Wood Johnson.

Robert Wood Johnson

The book Johnson was writing was called Or Forfeit Freedom, and its subject was no less than an analysis of the current state of business, the economic system, and labor-management relations in the 1940s.  Robert Wood Johnson was a straightforward writer, not hesitating to call for change where he felt change was necessary and this book was no exception:  Its full title was actually “People Must Live And Work Together Or Forfeit Freedom.”  In his dedication, to the men and women he’d worked with throughout the years, Johnson reiterated his belief that “…business must and can do its work for the good of humanity.”  [Or Forfeit Freedom, by Robert Wood Johnson, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1947, dedication page.]  Since management for the long term had been a guiding philosophy behind Johnson & Johnson since its founding in 1886, Robert Wood Johnson applied that long-term lens to business and economics in general in his book, citing examples from as far back as early hunter-gatherers, through the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution to the 1940s to make his points and comparisons.

As part of this long term view, Robert Wood Johnson became concerned with — among other things — the depletion of natural resources, on which not only business but society depended.  Coming from a business that made products that helped people, Johnson felt that business would be key in helping overcome the problems of the day.  And he came to the conclusion, remarkable for the 1940s, that business itself would not be sustainable without conserving, protecting and sustaining natural resources.   Fed up with the current thinking, or lack of thinking about this issue, he titled the chapter containing these conclusions “Enough Now.” Here’s what he said:

“In producing vast quantities of goods, we must see to it that natural resources are not depleted at an excessive rate.  These include metal-bearing ores, coal, petroleum, gas and forests, as well as the soil on which crops must be grown for food, fibers and plastics.  Water supplies must also be protected, whether they lie at the surface or beneath the ground.”  [Or Forfeit Freedom, by Robert Wood Johnson, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1947, p. 37]

“We must use our resources wisely, avoiding waste of both raw materials and scrap, while we seek substitutes for things already in short supply.  We must employ replaceable materials where we can, must let forests restore themselves as we cut, must prevent loss and pollution of water, and must halt wasteful erosion of soil.  Means to these ends are known but are now neglected through habit and ignorance of the fact that they pay.  Sound business demands their employment, just as it demands reduction of waste in a factory or store.”  [Or Forfeit Freedom, by Robert Wood Johnson, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1947, pp. 37-38] 

To put this into perspective, this was fifteen years before this famous book brought environmental awareness into broad public knowledge for the first time.  

Seward Johnson (L) and Robert Wood Johnson (R), 1920s.  They donated the land for Johnson Park in Central New Jersey

In an earlier decade, Robert Wood Johnson and his brother Seward had given 130 acres of land to Highland Park, the town across the river from Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  Their father, Company founder Robert Wood Johnson the first, owned a summer house for the family in Highland Park, a farm called Bellevue with an historic farmhouse that had a lot of land and space for his children to play outdoors. 

The farmhouse at Bellevue Farm in Highland Park, New Jersey

That 130 acres of land – which makes up Johnson Park — was donated for use as a public park, and it remains one of the premier public parks in Central New Jersey.  It was the one exception to Johnson’s rule that he or the Company never be mentioned in connection with a grant.  Interestingly enough, the Works Progress Administration, part of the New Deal, employed around 400 men to turn the donated land into a public recreation area, helping fulfill its mission of increasing employment to alleviate some of the worst effects of the Great Depression on families.

The Raritan River and some of the Johnson & Johnson buildings, including the building (with the flag on top) in which Robert Wood Johnson had his office.

Robert Wood Johnson also felt strongly about the Raritan River, which he could see from his office window in New Brunswick, and he grew increasingly alarmed at the pollution caused by over a century of industry in a variety of towns on the river.  It was especially noticeable and irksome to Johnson that the pollution was washing up on the banks of the parkland that he and his brother had provided to the state several decades earlier.  He was determined to help eradicate this problem, which would take years of effort.  Johnson assigned one of his aides to lead the project and gain support of the communities and industries in the Raritan Valley, and he personally went to countless meetings about the effort.  Eventually, a massive trunk sewer system was built and, according to Larry Foster’s biography of Robert Wood Johnson, he kept watch from his office window as the Raritan got cleaner and cleaner.  [Robert Wood Johnson, The Gentleman Rebel, by Lawrence G. Foster, Lillian Press, State College, PA, 1999, p. 457]

Robert Wood Johnson outdoors at his home, circa 1940s

In 1962, Robert Wood Johnson was recognized by the Garden Club of New Jersey, representing around 200 chapters throughout the state.  He was presented with a gold medal for being “‘a builder of an industrial empire who still retains an interest in community betterment and pays back to nature all he has had to disturb in the name of progress.’”  [Robert Wood Johnson, The Gentleman Rebel, by Lawrence G. Foster, Lillian Press, State College, PA, 1999, p. 476]  Given his interests and his emphasis on responsibility to the community, that award greatly pleased Johnson.

Robert Wood Johnson enjoyed spending time sailing

Robert Wood Johnson’s personal experiences, his practice of looking at things through a long-term lens, his management style, and his constant self-education all played a role in his emphasizing responsible stewardship of the environment over 60 years ago.  Johnson had grown up with nature at his family’s summer farmhouse, he had served as Mayor of Highland Park, New Jersey; he liked to sail and be on the water, and he enjoyed horseback riding, both outdoor pursuits.   These things all played a part in his belief that any long term planning for the future had to include what many people now call “sustainability.”

1918 Display of free Johnson & Johnson Public Health Materials

The DrugWonks blog had a great post on the need for pharmaceutical companies to become teachers, experts and partners in advancing public health.  It’s a great idea that harks back to a time 100 years ago when some of the major public health improvements we take for granted today were at the forefront of society.  And it’s been something Johnson & Johnson has felt strongly about throughout its history.

1886: Sterile Surgical Dressings and antiseptic surgery
Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 to manufacture the first mass produced sterile surgical dressings for use in U.S. hospitals.  These dressings helped to greatly reduce the astronomical mortality rates from surgical infections.  At the time, surgeons operated in their street clothes and used unsterilized cotton from the floors of cotton mills as dressings…and closed incisions with ordinary sewing needles and thread that they stuck in the lapels of their frock coats between operations.  Needless to say, infection rates were sky high and most patients didn’t survive surgery.

Robert Wood Johnson

Robert Wood Johnson the first heard Sir Joseph Lister – the founder of antiseptic surgery — speak in Philadelphia in 1876, and was inspired to produce the first mass-produced sterile surgical dressings.  At the time, surgeons wanting to try Lister’s methods had to sterilize gauze and cotton on their own, which was time-consuming, messy and costly.    When Johnson wasn’t able to realize his dream in his previous partnership, Seabury & Johnson, he and his brothers left and started their own company.  Johnson (who had two older brothers who fought for the Union Army in the Civil War and may have heard stories about the horrendous surgical conditions in battlefield hospitals) saw not just a business opportunity but a way to spread Lister’s discoveries, change surgery and save patients’ lives.

Early Johnson & Johnson Cotton and Gauze Dressings

Johnson & Johnson also manufactured sterile sutures and ligatures with pre-threaded needles.  In order to spread the word about antiseptic surgery, in 1888 the Company published Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment, a collection of monographs by the leading surgeons of the day and edited by Fred Kilmer…who readers of this blog will know because he was our scientific director from 1889 to 1934.

Fred Kilmer

In 1888 Kilmer was a New Brunswick, N.J. pharmacist and pharmaceutical chemist and a huge advocate of public health improvement.  His work on Modern Methods convinced Robert Wood Johnson the first that Kilmer should become part of Johnson & Johnson, and he persuaded Kilmer to join the Company the following year.

Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment, 1888

Modern Methods quickly became an important “how to” manual for surgeons wanting to try Lister’s methods, and was considered a major contribution to the advancement of antiseptic surgery, with over four million copies of the publication distributed worldwide.  With Fred Kilmer, Johnson & Johnson got a lifelong promoter of public health improvement and education.  For many years, Kilmer was the president of the New Brunswick (N.J.) Board of Health and an advisor to the New Jersey Board of Health.  He was instrumental in the improvement of New Brunswick’s public sanitation and in 1918, Kilmer served as president of the Middlesex County Anti-Tuberculosis League.  Besides being a scientist, Kilmer was a good writer and didn’t hesitate to use his talents to educate both Johnson & Johnson employees and the public on a variety of subjects, including hygiene, first aid, disease prevention and more.

1890s:  First Aid

First Aid Household Accident Case circa 1920s

Spurred on by a conversation Robert Wood Johnson had with a railway surgeon about the difficulty of treating injured workers laying track for the new cross-country railroads, Johnson & Johnson pioneered the first-ever First Aid Kits to treat injuries on-site.  The company also researched and published the first First Aid manuals, so that people could provide initial treatment for injuries and not do more harm to the patient.

1890s and beyond: Maternal and Child Health
Johnson & Johnson also made maternal and child health kits since the 1890s.  In the days when most babies were born at home, these kits contained supplies that doctors and midwives would need to make sure that births were safer for the mother and the baby.   The Company relied on the advice of physicians for what to include in the kits, and they were often named for the doctors who had contributed the ideas.  The kits contained items such as clean obstetric sheets, cotton and gauze, ligatures for the umbilical cord, nitrate of silver solution to prevent infections that often led to infant blindness, antiseptic soap and more.

One early kit contained something that would become a product line in its own right:  sanitary napkins for the mother.

Dr. Simpson’s Maternity Packet

The kits also contained detailed instructions about proper hygiene during delivery and afterward, and care of the mother and baby, specifically regarding preventing the infections that made childbirth dangerous for mothers and babies before the advent of modern medicine.   The pamphlets focused on the theme “Every Baby Has the Right To be Born Well.”

Disease Prevention and Public Health:
In the days before antibiotics, vaccines and modern medicine, the average citizen’s best tool for keeping his or her family safe from infectious disease was knowledge.  The Company made antibacterial soaps such as Synol, as well as fumigators and other products for disease prevention, but went beyond just advertising them.  They saw that the best way to combat diseases like diphtheria and typhoid in the early 1900s was to arm people with knowledge about how to kill the germs that caused them.

Cover of a 1917 RED CROSS MESSENGER Advertising “Clean Up Week” Products

Johnson & Johnson advertised “Clean Up Weeks” – usually in the early spring, that educated the public about clearing brush, stagnant water and other disease hazards outside the home, and how to do spring cleaning inside the home with antibacterial soaps and other products.   The Company published a Household Handbook that was free to the public and contained information on how to prevent the spread of infectious disease, how to keep your family healthy, and first aid and safety instruction. THE RED CROSS NOTES, a Company publication for doctors and surgeons, frequently had articles about combating diseases like scarlet fever, diphtheria, meningitis and measles.

Household Hand Book from 1916, Edited by Fred Kilmer

Even some of the more unusual historical products the Company made were designed to fight disease and improve public health.  Mosquitoons may have perhaps the weirdest product name in Johnson & Johnson history, but it was a fumigator designed to kill disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Lister’s Dog Soap Ad

Lister’s Dog Soap seems kind of funny too, but it was an antibacterial dog soap that was used to help rid dogs of fleas and other insects that could carry disease into a household.   And in 1918 the Company made gauze masks to protect the public during the deadly influenza epidemic. The Company continues this tradition today in many ways, including being a founding sponsor of a program that reduces childhood injury around the world.

UPDATE:  100 years ago, we provided public health information in print.  Now we do it on the web.  Here are some more examples:  we still provide maternal and child health information, basic first aid information, information and support for caregivers, and a variety of health information on YouTube.

So why do we do it?  It goes back to the founding philosophy of Johnson & Johnson, which was to save and improve lives with the first mass produced sterile surgical dressings and other products, and continues today as part of the Company’s responsibilities to patients, doctors, nurses, consumers and the community.