Allen Hornblum

Areas of Expertise:

Crime & Punishment, Politics, Public Policy, and Medical Ethics.

Education:

1978 – M.A. - Public Administration, Temple University
1971 – M.A. – History, Villanova University
1969 – B.A. – History, Penn State University

Research:

In 1980, just prior to selecting a research topic for a Ph.D. program in Political Science, I was offered the job of Executive Director of Americans for Democratic Action in Pennsylvania. That position began a two-decade long career of urban activism that included organizing the unemployed, lobbying for enhanced mass transit funding, and directing the affairs of Philadelphia’s Sheriff’s Office. Those diverse career paths have fostered an eclectic spirit that continues to this day and can be seen in my research interests, which also includes a propensity for tackling subjects that have never been explored before.

Because of my lengthy experience in the criminal justice system, I was able to do groundbreaking work illuminating America’s use of prison inmates as human guinea pigs for medical experimentation and uncover the truth behind the long-standing urban myth surrounding Philadelphia’s Old Irish Mob. Future research projects concern the reasons behind the African-American community’s distrust of doctors and the medical establishment, and the life of a Philadelphian who emerged as one of the Soviet Union’s most effective secret agents.

Selected Publications:

Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison (Routledge, 1998)

Philadelphia’s City Hall (Adelphia Press, 2004)

Confessions of a Second Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K∓A Gang (Barricade Books, 2006)

"Subjected to Medical Experimentation: Pennsylvania’s Contribution to Science in Prisons," Pennsylvania History, Spring, 1999.

"They Were Cheap and Available: Prisoners as Research Subjects in Twentieth Century America," British Medical Journal, November 29, 1997.

"A Conspiracy of Silence," Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices, Vol. 2, No. 4, April 2006.

"Silent Witnesses," Dermatopathology: Conceptual & Practical, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2006.