The Goldie Krantz Papers consist of twenty boxes of correspondence, speeches, memorabilia, and miscellaneous working papers arranged in seven series.
There are items related to almost every period of her education and career, but many of her accomplishments are virtually unrepresented. Especially disappointing is the scanty documentation of her work in organizing programs for the ILWU-PMA Welfare Fund.
Series I, CORRESPONDENCE, consists mainly of letters that Goldie Krantz herself classified as "personal" when she organized her files at the Welfare Fund and the Group Health Association. Almost all her correspondents were professionally interested in public health, and the majority of the letters are concerned with prepaid medical or dental care, but there are few extended discussions or exchanges of views. The historical value of the letters lies mainly in scattered lines and passages: Krantz revealed her politics and her personality even in routine correspondence, and comments on professional business that are more tantalizing than instructive when read in isolation may assume some importance in the context of information garnered from the papers of other individuals and organizations. There are seldom more than a few incoming letters filed under any one name, but the volume is more impressive when one considers how many of her correspondents were staff members of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the San Joaquin Foundation for Medical Care, the ILWU-PMA Welfare Fund, the Pacific Maritime Association, or the Group Health Association. The best documentation of her regular responsibilities as Welfare Fund Secretary is in her correspondence with her successor, Anne Waybur (whose title was Administrator), in the first year after she left the position. There is also important professional correspondence interspersed with other material in Series II.
Series II, RESEARCH AND CONSULTATION, contains miscellaneous working papers created by Goldie Krantz and her associates in the course of developing and evaluating health care programs. There is a separate section for each project.
The section onHawaii Dental Planis related to Krantz's trip to the Islands in 1962 to assist the Hawaii Employers Council and ILWU Local 142 in negotiating prepaid dental care for union members' children. The only information about the service she rendered comes from a newspaper clipping and from letters of appreciation.
The section onILWU-PMA Benefit Funds Contract Renewalis related to negotiations in various West Coast ports in 1965 to renew the contract between the union and the employers' association. The papers consist mainly of circular letters, memoranda, and draft agreements sent to Krantz by staff members of the Benefit Funds and the PMA. This material would be helpful in reconstructing the negotiations if the records of the primary participants were not available, but none of the items originated with Goldie Krantz, and her advisory role must be inferred from brief remarks in covering letters.
The section titledHospital Admission Studyis related to a research project designed to discover why federal employees who combined Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance with recourse to independent practitioners used more hospital services than those who subscribed to the Group Health Association. ¹ Goldie Krantz was one of six principal investigators. Her assignment was to be "responsible for data acquisition and coordination at GHA" and to serve "in a policy role with the project" (minutes, 1970 Jul 7-8), and the papers in this section furnish many examples of both kinds of activity. Her contribution is shown in letters to other participants, memoranda for fellow employees of the GHA, notes on conversations for her own files, and a critique of a draft report on the first phase of the study.
Besides the documentation of the study itself, several of Krantz's writings in this section reveal something about the politics of medical care. In a memorandum to the Executive Director of the GHA, she explained that a grant from the federal government to finance the research was being delayed by political pressure (1969 Nov 21). A year later, she noted dissension among the participants and complained that the GHA was not receiving full representation (1970 Sep 16). And when the report on the first phase of the study was being prepared, she rallied opposition to the proposal that the Blue Cross Association publish it instead of leaving that role to an organization that was not a subject of the investigation (1973 Oct 11).
he section titledMental Health Studyfurnishes a detailed technical record of an investigation of the utilization of psychiatric services provided by the Group Health Association. ² The research and analysis were conducted between 1968 and 1973 under contract with the National Institute of Mental Health, and Krantz's principal collaborators were members of the Institute staff. Her own role is well documented in letters and memoranda, but students of her ideas and methods may learn more from the preceding section because the problems addressed here are relatively narrow.
Group Health Cooperative of Puget Soundconsists mainly of correspondence initiated by staff members of the Group, Health Association to help them discover why the Seattle area program differed radically from their own in the cost and utilization of services.
The section on theAdvisory Committee on Dental Healthis related to the work of a panel of seventeen authorities on dental care who were appointed in 1970 to advise the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Goldie Krantz was the only member not identified as "Dr.," and she was designated the Public Representative. The working papers and draft reports that make up this section were produced in multiple copies for general distribution to the members, and there is no means of isolating her contribution. The product of the committee's work was itsReport and Recommendations to the Secretary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare(1972).
The section on theMedical Care Foundation of Sacramentois related to Krantz's employment by the Foundation as a consultant in 1972 and 1974. The principal example of her work is a critique of a proposed contract between the Foundation Community Health Plan and Blue Cross of Northern California for a pilot project involving a joint offering of health care services (1974 Aug 12).
The section on theAmerican Public Health Associationhas notes and correspondence connected with Krantz's service as chairman of the Nominating Committee of the Medical Care Section in 1975.
Series III, ADDRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS, contains most of Goldie Krantz's published articles, a few of her addresses to professional organizations, and a transcript of a meeting of the California Governor's Committee on the Study of Medical Aid and Health in which she participated.
Series IV, TEACHING, contains notes, printed matter, and mimeographed handouts for some of Krantz's lectures on the organization and financing of health care at the University of California School of Dentistry and Howard University College of Medicine.
Series V, WAR SHIPPING ADMINISTRATION, contains more than a dozen unrelated items that have some bearing on Krantz's employment with the Manning and Recruitment Organization (MRO). The most important are these: an outline and report on the MRO and a memorandum on reconversion, all possibly her own work; a transcript of a radio broadcast in which she was interviewed about her job; a script for a radio broadcast dramatizing her experience in wartime shipping; and a transcript of a "routine" FBI interrogation in which she denied past and present association with the Communist party. On the last subject, see also Series VI.
Series VI, BIOGRAPHY AND MEMORABILIA, contains miscellaneous items related to Goldie Krantz's education, career, and personal life. The papers of greatest biographical value are these: university class notes with comments on the poor quality of the teaching; a student essay beginning "I am a Communist…"; numerous resumés, some with detailed job descriptions; political leaflets from the mid-1950s; letters to businesses praising and criticizing their services and staff; and clippings from medical journals with critical annotations. There are also photographs and personal mementoes.
Series VII, HEALTH PLAN PUBLICATIONS, contains brochures, annual reports, and miscellaneous printed matter produced by unions, clinics, and other organizations concerned with prepaid dental and medical care.
¹ The results of the first phase of research are presented in Donald C. Riedel, Antone G. Singsen, Daniel C. Walden, Samuel Meyers, Goldie Krantz, and Marie Henderson,Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Utilization Study, United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Health Resources Administration, DHEW publication no. (HRA) 75-3125 (1975).
² Results of the pilot study are presented in Irving D. Goldberg, Goldie Krantz, and Ben Z. Locke, "Effect of a Short-term Outpatient Psychiatric Therapy Benefit on the Utilization of Medical Services in a Prepaid Group Practice Program,"Medical Care, V (1970), 419-428.