Bart Reagan was one of the most consistent contributors to Doubt, as well as an embodiment of its central tenet: Forteanism as the religion of self-respect.
Born and bred in western Pennsylvania, Reagan’s first acknowledged contribution to Doubt appeared in October 1941—not the January 1940 list—when he, like Norman Macbeth, sent in material about earthquakes in Missouri.. Bart was in his 30s at the time. (A funeral announcement has him born in 1904, census records in 1905 or 1906, and his military records 1910.) Subsequently, the clippings he sent to Tiffany Thayer appeared in 20 issues, the last in November 1957. Many of these issues featured more than one clipping.
Thayer was appreciative. “Indefatigable Bart Reagan,” he called him. In June 1943 Thayer wrote, “Every night when your Secretary goes to bed, and--instead of praying--has a personal interview with the Archangel Michael, he asks Mike to have God send the Society more and more members like Bart Reagan.”
Reagan was drafted and joined the army in April 1942. Some time after that doctors at Ft. Sill (in Oklahoma) wanted to tap his spine. Likely this was 1943, when a meningococcal outbreak had officials worried about the health of soldiers. It also could have been for VD. At any rate, Reagan refused.
The right to refuse medical interventions was one of the key planks in Thayer’s “religion of self-respect.” It was why he lobbied against the fluoridation of water and resented mandatory vaccinations. (He also saw these as doing more harm than good.) After a trip that he and his wife took to Europe, he refused to be vaccinated--which otherwise would have kept him from disembarking their ship. The public health official, though, allowed the Thayers to land, as long as they called each day for the next week reporting their health. He accepted that compromise.
Reagan’s doctors were not interested in compromise, however, which is not surprising, given the era and that Reagan was in the military. They stuck him anyway--and left him hobbled. He was out of the service by 1943. The Army rated him between 30% and 75% disabled; he wanted a 100% rating, and was still fighting the military bureaucracy four years after discharge.
Some of Reagan’s contributions to Doubt clearly reflected his own troubles. The summer 1945 issue (year 15 according to Thayer’s idiosyncratic calendar), featured a story that Reagan had found in Time magazine the previous November, about the discovery of the RH factor in blood, and suggestions that typing be mandatory for those who wanted marriage licenses.
Thayer picked up the baton and editorialized, “The State is a Pimp. The licensing of marriage by the state is nothing short of pandaring [sic], taking a rake-off from one of the principals in a sexual encounter. The colossal effrontery of any group to set itself up as the arbiter of who may copulate with whom is exceeded only by those States which demand a Wasserman test before a license is issued.
“Now comes a new wrinkle to be imposed between two young things and the hay. This is ‘the Rh factor in human blood.’ According to backers of this new medical racket, some people are RH-positives, others Rh-negatives, and never the twain should meet--without greasing a third party’s palm.”
At some point, Reagan became permanently bedridden.
He died in 1959. Thayer eulogized, “So long, Bart. We’ll continue to curse them for you as long as we can push a pencil.”
Born and bred in western Pennsylvania, Reagan’s first acknowledged contribution to Doubt appeared in October 1941—not the January 1940 list—when he, like Norman Macbeth, sent in material about earthquakes in Missouri.. Bart was in his 30s at the time. (A funeral announcement has him born in 1904, census records in 1905 or 1906, and his military records 1910.) Subsequently, the clippings he sent to Tiffany Thayer appeared in 20 issues, the last in November 1957. Many of these issues featured more than one clipping.
Thayer was appreciative. “Indefatigable Bart Reagan,” he called him. In June 1943 Thayer wrote, “Every night when your Secretary goes to bed, and--instead of praying--has a personal interview with the Archangel Michael, he asks Mike to have God send the Society more and more members like Bart Reagan.”
Reagan was drafted and joined the army in April 1942. Some time after that doctors at Ft. Sill (in Oklahoma) wanted to tap his spine. Likely this was 1943, when a meningococcal outbreak had officials worried about the health of soldiers. It also could have been for VD. At any rate, Reagan refused.
The right to refuse medical interventions was one of the key planks in Thayer’s “religion of self-respect.” It was why he lobbied against the fluoridation of water and resented mandatory vaccinations. (He also saw these as doing more harm than good.) After a trip that he and his wife took to Europe, he refused to be vaccinated--which otherwise would have kept him from disembarking their ship. The public health official, though, allowed the Thayers to land, as long as they called each day for the next week reporting their health. He accepted that compromise.
Reagan’s doctors were not interested in compromise, however, which is not surprising, given the era and that Reagan was in the military. They stuck him anyway--and left him hobbled. He was out of the service by 1943. The Army rated him between 30% and 75% disabled; he wanted a 100% rating, and was still fighting the military bureaucracy four years after discharge.
Some of Reagan’s contributions to Doubt clearly reflected his own troubles. The summer 1945 issue (year 15 according to Thayer’s idiosyncratic calendar), featured a story that Reagan had found in Time magazine the previous November, about the discovery of the RH factor in blood, and suggestions that typing be mandatory for those who wanted marriage licenses.
Thayer picked up the baton and editorialized, “The State is a Pimp. The licensing of marriage by the state is nothing short of pandaring [sic], taking a rake-off from one of the principals in a sexual encounter. The colossal effrontery of any group to set itself up as the arbiter of who may copulate with whom is exceeded only by those States which demand a Wasserman test before a license is issued.
“Now comes a new wrinkle to be imposed between two young things and the hay. This is ‘the Rh factor in human blood.’ According to backers of this new medical racket, some people are RH-positives, others Rh-negatives, and never the twain should meet--without greasing a third party’s palm.”
At some point, Reagan became permanently bedridden.
He died in 1959. Thayer eulogized, “So long, Bart. We’ll continue to curse them for you as long as we can push a pencil.”
