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Patrick Harper - Tumultuous 2020

Patrick Harper, a Commander for the United States Public Health Service, describes his experience being stationed with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at the Illinois Department of Public Health. He began his appointment in November of 2019 and by March of 2020 he was working in whatever capacity was necessary to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He outlines in detail his experiences being deployed to Chicago and Detroit as well as the work he did in Springfield, Illinois. He begins with March of 2020 and details the events up to the point of the interview, November 19, 2021.

Interview Links

Feature Excerpt

Harper describes the way morale was boosted during his first in-person COVID-19 deployment.

Abstract

Interview Session 1 (Audio)

Early life, career, and start of COVID-19 pandemic

Interview Session 2 (Audio)

Pandemic experiences from May of 2020 to November of 2021


Photos

Caption: Vernon Nagel, Harper’s grandfather, in his official service photo. He was a Water Tender in the Coast Guard during World War II.

Where: N/A

When: 1943

Ownership: May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.



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