Born: February 13, 1881
Died: May 12, 1941
Married: Clara Fletcher in 1906
Children: 3 Sons
Dr. Allen Kramer Krause sought the cure in Saranac Lake sometime after his graduation from Johns Hopkins University Medical School in 1907. This lead to his employment at the Saranac Laboratory as its Assistant Director where he studied many facets of tuberculosis, including the role of allergies, resistance, infection and bacteriology. Although he left Saranac Lake in 1916, he continued to play an important role in the fight against the dread disease.
When he returned to Johns Hopkins University in 1916, he served as the Director of the Kenneth Dows TB Research Center. In addition he also shared the knowledge he gained by continuing to teach as an assistant professor at the University. In 1929, Dr. Krause journeyed west to Tucson, Arizona to become president of the Desert Sanatorium. At this time he also served as clinical professor at both Stanford University and the University of Southern California. In 1931 he was awarded the Trudeau Medal by the National Tuberculosis Association.
In addition to his duties at the Sanatorium and University, Dr. Krause also found time to serve as the managing editor, and later chief editor, of the American Review of Tuberculosis. He also edited the first published translation of Dr. Robert Koch's original thesis on the tuberculosis bacillus. He published three books: Rest and Other Things: A Little Book of Plain Talks on Tuberculosis Problems (1923) , Environmental Resistance in Tuberculosis (1923), and Evolution of a Tubercule. He was awarded the Trudeau Medal for tuberculosis research in 1931.
His medical work came to a halt in 1938, when he was diagnosed with carcinoma of the colon. He returned East, first to Baltimore, and finally to Providence, Rhode Island where he died on May 12, 1941*.
In his memorial, Dr. Charles Austrian, M.D., conveys the character of the dedicated doctor, teacher and author, "With something of genius, he could toil like a giant and play like a sprite, give solid fact to strengthen thought or levity to lighten discourse. His fund of information was varied and large, his swings of mood were wide, his imagination expansive but controlled by realism. Whether at work or at play, he was a catalyst to those about him and where he was there was always action."
Sources:
Obituary. May 12, 1944. Providence, R.I., Saranac Lake Free Library, Adirondack Room Collection.
Memorial. Allen K. Krause by Charles Austrian, M.D. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2242279/pdf/tacca00013-0050.pdf
*Note: Sources conflict on the year of death. The memorial lists the year of death as 1941, not 1944. The memorial was published in The Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, v.57;1941. One can only assume this was not published prematurely. The New York Times obituary was published on May 13, 1941.
