CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

In this group interview, Dave Kotelchuck, Andrew Burgie, Amy Manowitz, and Dan Kass document their involvement with the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) based out of Hunter College, CUNY. Conducted by Andrea Vásquez on March 9, 2018, it details the origin of the COEH, how each interviewee became involved, what their roles were, and how the COEH evolved over its 27 years, from 1990 to 2017.

Kotelchuck, founder with Steve Zoloff of the COEH, explains how the Center was an embodiment of the values that grew out of the civil rights era in the 1960s and 70s and how the spirit of that time revived the discourse surrounding public health, especially as an academic discipline. Andrew Burgie, project manager, associate director, and eventually co-director of the COEH, explains some of the projects he worked on and the importance of community outreach. Amy Manowitz, project manager until 2000, describes the rigorous trainings the COEH gave to workers across the country, as well as several notable successes in occupational health. Dan Kass, staff coordinator and director of the COEH until 2000, describes the center’s transition from working with unions and job site risk to community health workers and organizations.