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.

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

Biographies & Memoirs

Higgins, James E.

Historical

Penn State University Press

Series Editor: Robert Lecker, McGill University.Written in an easy-to-read, accessible style by teachers with years of classroom experience, MASTERWORK STUDIES are guides to the literary works most frequently studied in high school. Presenting ideas that spark imaginations, these books help students to gain background knowledge on great literature useful for papers and exams. The goal of each study is to encourage creative thinking by presenting engaging information about each work and its author. This approach allows students to arrive at sound analyses of their own, based on in-depth studies of popular literature. Each volume: illuminates themes and concepts of a classic text; uses clear, conversational language; is an accessible, manageable length from 140 to 170 pages; includes a chronology of the authors life and era; provides an overview of the historical context; offers a summary of its critical reception; and lists primary and secondary sources and index.

The Little Prince (Masterwork Studies Series)

Teen & Young Adult

Twayne Publishers

In this sympathetic yet penetrating study of a revered classic of children's literature, James E. Higgins examines the relevance of Saint-Exupery's active engagement in World War II, demonstrating that this most unusual man - who took part in adventures that few people will experience in their lifetimescould at the same time be everyman, communicating universal truths. By examining The Little Prince's simple style and imaginative motifs, Higgins reveals how this little fairy tale so powerfully teaches its lessons about pain, faith, and love and so compellingly asks us to turn inward to find answers to questions of responsibility - to "see with our hearts."

The Little Prince: A Reverie of Substance (Twayne's Masterwork Studies)

Literature & Fiction

Twayne Pub

"The history of medicine in Pennsylvania is no less vital to understanding the state's past than is its political or industrial history," writes James Higgins in The Health of the Commonwealth, his overview of medicine and public health in the state. Covering the outbreak of yellow fever in 1793 through the 1976 Legionnaire's Disease epidemic, and the challenges of the present day, he shows how Pennsylvania has played a central role in humanity's understanding of--and progress against--disease.Higgins provides close readings of specific medical advances--for instance, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh discovered the polio vaccine--and of disease outbreaks, like AIDS. He examines sanitation and water purification efforts, allopathic medicine and alternative therapies, and the building of the state's tuberculosis sanitaria. Higgins also describes Native American and pre-modern European folk medicine, the rise of public health in the state, and women's roles in both folk and scientific medicine.&nbsp;The Health of the Commonwealth places Pennsylvania's unique contribution to the history of public health and medicine in a larger narrative of health and disease throughout the United States and the world.

The Health of the Commonwealth: A Brief History of Medicine, Public Health, and Disease in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania History)

History

Americas

Pennsylvania Historical Association

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Books by Higgins, James E.