The War Against Tuberculosis (Paperback)

James E. Higgins

ISBN 10: 0271099224 / ISBN 13: 9780271099224

Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. In 1905, sanitary conditions in Pennsylvania were appalling. Thousands of children died of preventable and curable diseases, tens of thousands in the coal regions hacked themselves to death from black lung disease, and pollution in the commonwealths water killed tens of thousands more. In the wake of an alarming typhoid outbreak in Butler, the Pennsylvania legislature formed a modern state department of health. At its head was Samuel G. Dixon, who would rise to fame as one of the most respected public health experts of his day.While the legislation that created Pennsylvanias department of health cleared space for its aggressive action, it was Dixons deft political touch and keen insight that enabled the department to avoid destruction at the hands of a people notoriously hostile to government encroachment. As commissioner, Dixon constructed the worlds largest, most sophisticated system of tuberculosis controls, with thousands of beds in three great sanatoria. As his reputation grew, Dixon was recognized as one of the nations greatest public health reformers and a champion of technology as the answer to great societal problems. At the same time, Dixon was a eugenicist who helped author a marriage law prohibiting unions between the diseased, those with intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disorders, alcoholics, and the unfit.This compelling history of Pennsylvanias first commissioner of public health provides a fascinating view into the changes wrought by germ theory and the public health efforts that stemmed from it during the Progressive Era in the United States. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780271099224

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The War Against Tuberculosis (Paperback)
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271099224
• ISBN 13: 9780271099224
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In 1905, sanitary conditions in Pennsylvania were appalling. Thousands of children died of preventable and curable diseases, tens of thousands in the coal regions hacked themselves to death from black lung disease, and pollution in the commonwealth’s water killed tens of thousands more. In the wake of an alarming typhoid outbreak in Butler, the Pennsylvania legislature formed a modern state department of health. At its head was Samuel G. Dixon, who would rise to fame as one of the most respected public health experts of his day.

While the legislation that created Pennsylvania’s department of health cleared space for its aggressive action, it was Dixon’s deft political touch and keen insight that enabled the department to avoid destruction at the hands of a people notoriously hostile to government encroachment. As commissioner, Dixon constructed the world’s largest, most sophisticated system of tuberculosis controls, with thousands of beds in three great sanatoria. As his reputation grew, Dixon was recognized as one of the nation’s greatest public health reformers and a champion of technology as the answer to great societal problems. At the same time, Dixon was a eugenicist who helped author a marriage law prohibiting unions between the diseased, those with intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disorders, alcoholics, and the “unfit.”

This compelling history of Pennsylvania’s first commissioner of public health provides a fascinating view into the changes wrought by germ theory and the public health efforts that stemmed from it during the Progressive Era in the United States.

About the Author

James E. Higgins is the author of The Health of the Commonwealth: A Brief History of Medicine, Public Health, and Disease in Pennsylvania.