Guide to the Department of Public Health Annual Reports, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1871-1916 AIS.1974.28
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Department of Public Health Annual Reports, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Collection Number
AIS.1974.28
Extent
3 microfilm_reels
Date
1871-1916
Abstract
A Bureau/Department of Public Health existed for the City of Pittsburgh beginning in 1852 through sometime in the mid-twentieth century. The Bureau/Department was charged with maintaining hospital/vaccination records, vital statistics, sanitation inspection, regulation and enforcement, as well as food inspection. Records included here consist of 30 volumes of Annual reports from the Bureau of Public Health for the years 1871-1907 (not inclusive), and the reports from the Department of Public Health for the years 1909-1916 (inclusive).
Language
English
.
Author
Kyle Conway.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Scope and Content Notes
The records contain the Annual Reports of the Pittsburgh Department of Public Health, previously the Bureau of Public Health under the Department of Public Safety, for the years: 1871-1878, 1887-1899, 1907, and 1909-1916. Reports usually include annual statistics on the mortality rate, disease index and severity of major diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis, birth and marriages, sanitation concerns and statistics regarding what nuisances were addressed that year, as well as the statistics of the food inspection services.
Noteworthy are the following reports:
1877--which includes the first appearance of a report of the Municipal Hospital.
1895--which saw a legislative overhaul granting the branches of the Bureau with significantly more administrative and punitive ability and the new divisions of Bacteriology and Chemical Section.
1907--which includes several maps (one showing the location of every case of tuberculosis in Pittsburgh) and the first report from the Tenement Housing Inspection, which includes photographs of turn of the century working class housing.
1909--which was the inaugural report of the new Department of Health and its new organizational plan.
History
The Pittsburgh Department of Public Health traces its origins to 1852 with the creation of the Bureau of Public Health within the Department of Public Safety and began recording population health information (initially births, marriages, and deaths). The Bureau was managed by a Board of Health, which included several elected officials such as, a Health Officer, the Health Physician, and the Chief Inspectors of Sanitation and Food. The 1887 Annual Report includes an overview of statistics collected between the years of 1852-1887.
In 1909, the Bureau became the Department of Public Health. Through the years the Bureau/Department expanded its data collection to classify and investigate specific incidents such as significant outbursts of smallpox or typhoid fever in the city, the growing need for housing regulation and waste management, as well as a comprehensive inspection system for foods. Other reports include information on: vaccinations, mortality, cataloguing death statistics by disease, cause, location, age, ethnicity, etc. In later years, the department was divided into three Bureaus: Infectious Diseases, Sanitation, and Food Inspection.
At this time, it is not clear the exact date when the Pittsburgh Department of Public Health ceased to exists. But ultimately the functions it fulfilled were assumed by the Allegheny County Department of Health and other goverment agencies.
Arrangement
The reports are chronologically catalogued on three microfilm reels with Reel One encompassing the reports between 1871-1891, Reel Two containing the reports from 1892-1910, and the remaining six reports (1911-1916) on Reel Three.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
No copyright restrictions.
Previous Citation
Department of Public Health Annual Reports, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1871-1916, AIS.1974.28, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Department of Public Health Annual Reports, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1871-1916, AIS.1974.28, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
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