title: Life and death in Philadelphia's black belt: a tale of an urban tuberculosis campaign, 1900-1930.
abstract: The poor health status of black Americans was a widely recognized fact during the first third of the twentieth century. Excess mortality in black communities was frequently linked to the infectious disease tuberculosis, which was particularly menacing in densely populated urban settings. As health authorities in large cities struggled to keep pace with the needs of citizens, private charities worked to launch community-oriented attacks against the deadly disease. In 1914 a novel experiment to address excess mortality among blacks was launched in Philadelphia. The success of the health promotion campaign initiated by the Henry Phipps Institute and the Whittier Centre, two private charitable associations, has been attributed primarily to the presence of black clinicians, in particular public health nurse Elizabeth Tyler. This study suggests that community health efforts also rest on partnerships between like-minded organizations and coalition building.
authors.affiliation: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, Center for Health Outcomes & Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA 19146, USA.
authors.forename: J Margo Brooks
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carthon
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes / Q000266:history; D001741:Black or African American / Q000266:history*; D002608:Charities / Q000266:history; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D015143:Philadelphia; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000266:history*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000266:history*; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000266:history*