The venereal disease section of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) formed a study group in 1932 at its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Taliaferro Clark, head of the USPHS, is credited with founding it.
His initial goal was to follow untreated syphilis in a group of African-American men for six months to one year, and then follow up with a treatment phase.
When the Rosenwald Fund withdrew its financial support, a treatment program was deemed too expensive.
Clark, however, decided to continue the study, interested in determining whether syphilis had a different effect on African-Americans than it did on Caucasians.
A regressive study of untreated syphilis in white males had been conducted in Oslo, Norway could provide the basis for comparison.
The prevailing belief at the time was that white people were more likely to develop neurosyphilis, while black people were more likely to sustain cardiovascular damage.
Clark resigned before the study was extended beyond its original length.

Although Clark is usually assigned blame for conceiving the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, Thomas Parran Jr. is equally, if not more, deserving of originating the notion of a non-treatment study in Macon County, Alabama.
As the Health Commissioner of New York State (and former head of the PHS Venereal Disease Division), Parran was asked by the Rosenwald Fund to make an assessment of their serological survey of syphilis and demonstration projects in five Southern states.
Among his conclusions was the recommendation that, "If one wished to study the natural history of syphilis in the Negro race uninfluenced by treatment, this county (Macon) would be an ideal location for such a study."

Oliver C. Wenger was the director of the regional PHS Venereal Disease Clinic in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
He and his staff took the lead in developing study procedures.
Wenger continued to advise and assist the study when it was adapted as a long-term, no-treatment observational study after funding for treatment was lost.

Raymond A. Vonderlehr was appointed on-site director of the research program and developed the policies that shaped the long-term follow-up section of the project.
His method of gaining the "consent" of the subjects for spinal taps (to look for signs of neurosyphilis) was by advertising this diagnostic test as a "special free treatment.”
 He also met with local black doctors and asked them to deny treatment to participants in the Tuskegee Study.
Vonderlehr retired as head of the venereal disease section in 1943, shortly after penicillin was proven to cure syphilis.


Several African-American health workers and educators associated with the Tuskegee Institute played a critical role in the study’s progress.
The extent to which they knew about the full scope of the study is not clear in all cases.
Robert Russa Moton, then president of Tuskegee Institute, and Eugene Dibble, head of the Institute's John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital, both lent their endorsement and institutional resources to the government study.
Registered nurse Eunice Rivers, who had trained at Tuskegee Institute and worked at its hospital, was recruited at the start of the study to be the main point of contact with the participants.
The venereal disease section of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) formed a study group in 1932 at its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Taliaferro Clark, head of the USPHS, is credited with founding it. His initial goal was to follow untreated syphilis in a group of African-American men for six months to one year, and then follow up with a treatment phase. When the Rosenwald Fund withdrew its financial support, a treatment program was deemed too expensive. Clark, however, decided to continue the study, interested in determining whether syphilis had a different effect on African-Americans than it did on Caucasians. A regressive study of untreated syphilis in white males had been conducted in Oslo, Norway could provide the basis for comparison. The prevailing belief at the time was that white people were more likely to develop neurosyphilis, while black people were more likely to sustain cardiovascular damage. Clark resigned before the study was extended beyond its original length.
Although Clark is usually assigned blame for conceiving the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, Thomas Parran Jr. is equally, if not more, deserving of originating the notion of a non-treatment study in Macon County, Alabama. As the Health Commissioner of New York State (and former head of the PHS Venereal Disease Division), Parran was asked by the Rosenwald Fund to make an assessment of their serological survey of syphilis and demonstration projects in five Southern states. Among his conclusions was the recommendation that, "If one wished to study the natural history of syphilis in the Negro race uninfluenced by treatment, this county (Macon) would be an ideal location for such a study." 
Oliver C. Wenger was the director of the regional PHS Venereal Disease Clinic in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He and his staff took the lead in developing study procedures. Wenger continued to advise and assist the study when it was adapted as a long-term, no-treatment observational study after funding for treatment was lost. 
Raymond A. Vonderlehr was appointed on-site director of the research program and developed the policies that shaped the long-term follow-up section of the project. His method of gaining the "consent" of the subjects for spinal taps (to look for signs of neurosyphilis) was by advertising this diagnostic test as a "special free treatment.”  He also met with local black doctors and asked them to deny treatment to participants in the Tuskegee Study. Vonderlehr retired as head of the venereal disease section in 1943, shortly after penicillin was proven to cure syphilis.

Several African-American health workers and educators associated with the Tuskegee Institute played a critical role in the study’s progress. The extent to which they knew about the full scope of the study is not clear in all cases. Robert Russa Moton, then president of Tuskegee Institute, and Eugene Dibble, head of the Institute's John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital, both lent their endorsement and institutional resources to the government study. Registered nurse Eunice Rivers, who had trained at Tuskegee Institute and worked at its hospital, was recruited at the start of the study to be the main point of contact with the participants.
Tuskegee Syphilis Study