Charles Whelan Jr

Charles Whelan, Jr (born July 9, 1873 in Gallion, Hale County – died January 27, 1939) was Birmingham City Physician from about 1899 to 1916.

Whelan was the son of Charles Whelan, who practiced as a physician in Birmingham from 1880 to 1898. He graduated from Birmingham's Bellvue Academy and went on to study at Georgetown University and the Universities of Virginia and Alabama, graduating from the latter in 1896.

Whelan opened his practice in Birmingham that year and married Lizzie Sanders that November. He was elected City Physician, with responsibilities for public health and sanitation as well as the care of prisoners at the Birmingham Jail. In 1904 Whelan appointed twelve physicians to carry out a city ordinance requiring smallpox vaccinations be administered to anyone who could not provide evidence of being vaccinated in the preceding seven years. He was re-elected to the position continuously until he resigned in 1916 to pursue private practice.

After leaving the city's employ, Whelan served as welfare director for the American Radiator Company until 1929 and served as president of the Medical Association of Alabama. He was appointed to the United States Parole Commission in 1935. Whelan died in 1939.

References

• Dubose, Joel Campbell (1904) Notable men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical 2 Volumes. Atlanta, Georgia: Southern Historical Association
• Hoffman, Peter B. (1997) "History of the Federal Parole System." United States Parole Commission