Guide to the Board of Health Records, 1782-1993
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Guide to the Board of Health Records, 1782-1993 Administrative Information Title and Dates: Board of Health Records, 1782-1993 Repository: Gloucester City Archives City Hall 9 Dale Avenue Gloucester, MA 01930 978-282-3043 http://gloucester-ma.gov/index.aspx?NID=72 Collection Number: CC 144; BH 12-II; CC-157-II; BH 56-II Author of Finding Aid: Mary Williams, July 2017 Creator: Unknown Language: The materials in this collection are in English. Physical Description: CC 144 Box 4, Folder 1; total folders 1 BH 12-II 11 Volumes CC 157-II 7 volumes Abstract: CC 144: Board of Health communication (27 items) including 1782 expenses with names of sick from Halifax cartel. Communication regarding smallpox and diphtheria and other infectious diseases, garbage cremation, drainage, sewerage, and a 1889 paper of the Sanitary Committee. BH 12-II: Minutes of Meetings of Board of Health. Titles on spines, Board of Health Minutes of Regular meetings, hearings, inspections, licensing, complaints, bids, etc. Volume 1919-1928 also includes accounts and budgets. CC 157-II: Lists of individuals with contagious/dangerous diseases including disease, name of afflicted individuals, address, age, and running total for the year. BH 56-II: Sanitary Survey of the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts 1921 by M. Songkla. Includes brief history of Gloucester and description of public health activities 1 Access and Use Acquisition Information and Provenance: The Gloucester City Archives is the repository of the town and city municipal records. Processing Information: The collection was originally processed by the Gloucester Archives Committee. The finding aid was written by Mary Williams in July 2017 Access Restrictions: Available for research. Location: The collection is housed at the Gloucester City Archives in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements: CC 144: The collection is in good condition and some items are encased in Mylar. Items are arranged in chronological order. BH 12-II: Good condition, exception Volume I is in fair condition, red leather covers and spines, approximately 13 x 9 x 2 inches each. Not including years 1893 – 1902 and 1905 – 1908. Two volumes labeled volume 7 although different years. Volumes are completely typed starting with volume 6. Volumes are not indexed. Contents of Volumes are in chronological order, with the exception of Volumes 10-12 which are in reverse chronological order. CC 157-II: Generally good condition (exception Volume 1 cover in poor condition missing spine and Volume 3 cover is taped together). Volume 1-3 are labeled contagious disease and Volumes 4-7 are labeled dangerous diseases. BH 56-II: Excellent condition. One volume, blue padded cover with gold printing. Cover of the book lists the author as M. Songkla. Also printed on the cover is “The Harvard-Technology School of Public Health, Course: Preventive Medicine, Dr. M.J.Rosenau”. Inside front cover are several documents from 1992, one of which is a booklet published for the Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of HRH Prince Mahido, held in Boston, November 12-14, 1992 Copyright and Conditions Governing Use: For permission to reproduce or publish materials from this collection, please contact the Gloucester City Archives. Researchers are responsible for following all copyright and intellectual property laws. Preferred Citation: Board of Health Records, 1782-1993, Gloucester City Archives. 2 Collection Description Historical Notes: Smallpox Of particular note in CC144 is item #2, a letter regarding “public inoculation of the Kine Pox”. Small pox was a deadly disease that killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the closing years of the 18th century (including five reigning monarchs) and was responsible for a third of all blindness. 1 Variolation, popularly known as inoculation, against smallpox was probably the most significant advance in colonial history and occurred simultaneously with the process in England. The first documented instance of inoculation in England was 1718. In the colonies, Cotton Mather, who had lost his wife and three children to smallpox in 1713, was an early and strong proponent for inoculation in the colonies. He was assisted in his efforts by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, a great-uncle of John Adams. Early variolation involved putting a small amount of the live vaccine under the skin of a healthy person, thus giving them a “manageable” case of smallpox. This procedure was quite risky, controversial and expensive. The death rate ranged from 1-5% and the inoculated person needed to be quarantined since they were contagious for a significant period of time. A smallpox epidemic (1775-1782) killed more than 100,000 people, caused more deaths than those from the British troops, and prompted Washington to initiate a policy of inoculating the Colonial troops. 2 Smallpox continued to be a major public health concern in the years post revolution. In 1798, Jenner introduced the use of cow pox vaccine in place of the live smallpox vaccine. During the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the government became a major player in providing smallpox vaccine throughout the country. In 1813, James Madison signed into law a statute requiring wide spread vaccination and aimed at regulating the Jenner vaccine to prevent the use of adulterated versions. This legislation was one of the nation’s first public health bills and the Vaccine Act of 1813 was the first federal law to oversee drug purity.3 “Kinepox is an alternate term for the smallpox vaccine used in early 19th-century America. Popularized by Jenner in the late 1790s, kinepox was a far safer method for inoculating people against smallpox than the previous method, variolation, which had a 3% fatality rate.”4 Sources: 1. Wikipedia contributors, "Smallpox," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smallpox&oldid=794586261 (accessed August 9, 2017). 2. Jeanne E. Abrams. Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health (London and New York: New York University Press, 2013), 27-29. 3. Ibid., 29-30. 4. Wikipedia contributors, "Cowpox," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cowpox&oldid=787030397 (accessed August 9, 2017). 3 Diphtheria Another document in CC144 is a letter from the State Board of Health written in 1877 concerning measures to be taken to control the spread of diphtheria. Diphtheria was once a major cause of illness and death among children. Caused by a bacterium and spread by direct contact or through the air, it was extremely contagious and in the years prior to prevention and treatment resulted in a 50% mortality of those infected with the disease.1 The causative bacterium was not discovered until 1883 by Edwin Klebs and vaccination did not become common until after 1920. After 1924, deaths began to decline.2 In the Gloucester Public Health Minutes, the first noted mention of Shick testing is in 1924 and the first noted mention of diphtheria vaccination is in 1928. Sources: 1. “Diphtheria,” National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Bacterial Diseases, https://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/index.html (accessed August 9, 2017). 2. Wikipedia contributors, "Diphtheria," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diphtheria&oldid=791788345 (accessed August 9, 2017). Influenza In 1918-1919, the world experienced an influenza pandemic. This flu, sometimes called the Spanish flu, killed more individuals than those who died in WW I. One fifth of the world’s population was affected and was most deadly for those 20-40. Over 675,000 Americans died of the flu.1 Volume VI of the Gloucester Board of Health records details the response to the outbreak in Gloucester in the fall of 1918. Sources: 1. Molly Billings, “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918,” https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/ (accessed August 9, 2017). Polio Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious disease caused by the polio virus. It can cause temporary, or even lifelong paralysis and can be deadly. Prior to the development of the polio vaccines in the United States in the mid 1950’s - 1960s, polio was one of the most feared diseases causing over 15,000 cases of paralysis a year in the US. At the present time, polio has largely been eliminated in the US due to vaccination and there have been no cases originating in the US since 1979.1 The first noted mention of polio in the Gloucester Board of Health records was in 1916. Immunization of school children is noted in late 1955. Sources: 1. “Polio Elimination in the United States,” Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, https://www.cdc.gov/polio/us/index.html (accessed August 9, 2017). 4 HRH Prince Mahidol of Thailand HRH Prince Mahidol of Songkla was born January 1, 1892 In Bangkok, son of Kink Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhanna. Known as the father of modern medicine in Thailand, he was educated at the Harrow school in England. He later attended the Murwik Imperial German Naval Academy and became an officer in the Royal Thai Navy in 1914. He became interested in improving the standard of medical practice and public health in Thailand and with the permission of his brother. King Rama VI he enrolled at Harvard University in 1916. He received his certificate of Public Health in 1921 and his MD in 1928. Returning to Thailand, and with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Thai government funding, donations from the royal family and his own money he worked to upgrade medical and nursing education in Thailand. He established a School of Public Health, a Dental College, a School of Pharmacy and a School of Nursing. He transformed Siriraj, the first scientific hospital in Thailand into a modern teaching hospital. He died of kidney disease on September 24, 1929 at age 37.1 Source: 1.