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The War Against Tuberculosis : Samuel G. Dixon and the Rise of Modern Public Health in Pennsylvania

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Title: The War Against Tuberculosis : Samuel G. Dixon and the Rise of Modern Public Health in Pennsylvania
Description: 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.
Authors: James E. Higgins
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Tuberculosis--Pennsylvania--History, Physicians--Pennsylvania--Biography, Health officers--Pennsylvania--Biography, Public health--Pennsylvania--History--20th century
Categories: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical (incl. Patients), BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA), HISTORY / Social History
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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  – Type: ebook-epub
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DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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RelevancyScore: 1129
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PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1129.38305664063
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  Data: 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.
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Code: 610.92
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Tuberculosis--Pennsylvania--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Physicians--Pennsylvania--Biography
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health officers--Pennsylvania--Biography
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public health--Pennsylvania--History--20th century
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The War Against Tuberculosis : Samuel G. Dixon and the Rise of Modern Public Health in Pennsylvania
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          Name:
            NameFull: James E. Higgins
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            NameFull: James E. Higgins
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
            – D: 21
              M: 02
              Type: profile
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780271099217
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780271099651
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              Value: 9780271099644
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: The War Against Tuberculosis : Samuel G. Dixon and the Rise of Modern Public Health in Pennsylvania
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