[Iowa]. [Public Health]

Record of the Board of Health of Liberty Township, Clinton Coy. Iowa [manuscript caption title]

[Toronto, Ia.]: 1882-1918. [224]pp. Folio. Original black half calf and cloth, spine gilt. Corners and spine ends a bit worn. Text block separating from spine, but still sound. Several leaves loose, lightly soiled. Good plus. Item #1716

Large folio ledger recording thirty-five years of health data for Clinton County, Iowa, comprising the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Health as well as a "Record of Cases of Disease Dangerous to Public Health." Clinton County is located just north of Davenport, on the border with Illinois. Names of doctors, patients, and board members are all recorded, providing an interesting glimpse into the life of the county over a significant span of time and a period of substantial growth in knowledge in the field of public health.

The opening leaf contains local health regulations such as burning or burying dead animals and livestock within ten hours and removing "nuisance sources of filth or sickness" from one's premises within twenty-four hours. The next item in the ledger is an emergency meeting dated January 24, 1883, discussing an outbreak of diphtheria and the measures taken to quarantine and contain it. The first two-thirds of the volume is comprised of such meeting minutes. There is also a record of accounts paid and receivable for the county's Board of Health for the period covered. Some of the funds were spent on activities such as improving the cemetery (April 1904). Interestingly part of the activity recorded is also for highway maintenance. The final section of the volume contains pre-printed ledger space for recording cases of disease deemed dangerous to the public health. Part of the space has been used to record births and deaths in 1905. Final pages record minutes of special meetings concerning outbreaks and quarantines in 1917 and 1918, particularly of scarlet fever, diphtheria, and measles. A wonderful record of public health in one rural county of Iowa.

Price: $850.00