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Public health in rural Orange County

County nurses, clinics, the health department, and sanitation work from the 1920s: public health’s reach into the countryside.

In briefCounty nurses, clinics, the district health department and sanitation work reached into rural Orange County from 1924: the campaigns against typhoid, diphtheria, tuberculosis and polio through 1955.

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3 works about Public health in rural Orange County are indexed here.

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Episodes in this history, in date order. Each has its own page.

Chapel Hill’s nurse for Black residents, 1924–19411924–1941 · 29 events · Nurse A. D. Compton carried most of the health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents from 1924, with her salary paid from tuberculosis-seal money, the town, the Red Cross and Black residents. She visited homes, examined schoolchildren, gave typhoid inoculations and held baby clinics. Her support was often in doubt: by December 1927 the Red Cross could no longer give its share, Black citizens organized a canvass for theirs in 1929, and in 1930 the tuberculosis fund could pledge support only until June. From 1927 a yearly football game, run by the University YMCA, raised money for her. In 1939 she wrote in the Weekly of the change from wells and privies to sewer, town water and clinics.

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  1. The county sanitation campaign reaches Black residents through their preachers and churches In the 1915 county-wide drive for better sanitation, organizers found the Black churches the only real way to reach Black families. Black congregations took lantern-slide talks on unsafe privies as a fit church concern, while some white churches thought them out of place. People: Eugene Cunningham BransonE. C. Branson, Field Study of Negro Conditions (1917), scan p. 8
  2. U.S. Public Health Service doctors begin a sanitary survey of Orange County Doctors of the U.S. Public Health Service began a house-to-house sanitary survey of Orange County, which the county had sought from the government. By June 19, after seven weeks, they had visited 1,650 homes and held public health meetings across the county, with Chapel Hill and Carrboro to follow from June 28.Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 24, 1915, p. 8
  3. The Hillsboro town council requires a sanitary privy at every home During the Public Health Service survey, the Hillsboro council passed an ordinance requiring a sanitary privy at every home in town, and local business men set out to get the work done systematically.Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 24, 1915, p. 8
  4. State inspectors give the Carrboro mill village a top sanitary rating State sanitary inspectors T. G. Moser and A. E. Terry rated the Durham Hosiery Mills village at Carrboro at 90, which the News reported as the highest mark yet given in their territory. They credited manager R. H. Ward's system of a full-time inspector and a work squad that kept every dry closet scoured. People: Ralph H. WardThe News (Chapel Hill), November 27, 1919, p. 4
  5. The state school dental clinic treats Chapel Hill children free of charge The State Board of Health set up its school dental clinic at Chapel Hill High School, where state school dentist A. M. Schultz examined 80 children aged six to twelve and treated 75 in a week, including 272 amalgam fillings and 39 extractions. The work, which he valued at $801.50, was free, and he planned to go on to the county schools.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), January 29, 1920, p. 5
  6. The State Board of Health gives free dental care to Orange County schoolchildren A State Board of Health dental clinic at the Chapel Hill school examined 80 children early in 1920, found 75 with defective teeth and did about $800 of work at no cost to them. The dentist, Dr. Schultz, then set up a county clinic in the courthouse at Hillsboro, where any school child from 6 to 12 could have dental work done free; Efland pupils went on February 27 and 28, and he planned to visit other parts of the county.The News (Chapel Hill), March 4, 1920, p. 5
  7. The town and the University form a joint sanitary board and hire a health officer for Chapel Hill The University and the town of Chapel Hill organized a joint sanitary board headed by Dr. Eric A. Abernethy to inspect dairies, water, food and eating places, and retained Dr. S. A. Nathan, a veterinarian who had done the same work for New Hanover and Craven counties, for one year from about January 1. Dairies, restaurants and boardinghouses were to be licensed and regularly inspected, using testing equipment the University installed in Phillips Hall. People: Eric A. Abernethy, S. A. NathanSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), December 22, 1921, p. 1
  8. The Chapel Hill Red Cross chapter reports on its public health nurse and elects Howard W. Odum chairman At its annual meeting in the Presbyterian church, the Chapel Hill chapter of the American Red Cross heard that it had helped provide a public health nurse for the schools and homes with the town, the school board and the Community Club, and that its 1921 roll call raised $966.83. It elected Howard W. Odum chairman, referred a memorial to Miss Roper, the nurse who served the students and town in the influenza epidemic, to a committee, and asked its executive committee to work out closer cooperation with the King's Daughters and the tuberculosis seal organization. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll, Alice Noble, Henry A. WhitfieldSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), March 2, 1922, p. 1
  9. New health rules cover Chapel Hill dairies, restaurants and boardinghouses To head off food-borne illness as off-campus eateries fed more and more students, new health regulations on dairies, restaurants and boardinghouses took effect in January 1922.Search the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 245
  10. Influenza closes the Elm Grove and Blackwood schools An outbreak of influenza and grippe in the county closed the Elm Grove school for a week because so many pupils were sick, and the Blackwood school was suspended because of the flu. In Chapel Hill the high school nurse was ill with pneumonia, and a high school student who worked at Eubanks Drug Store died of flu that turned to pneumonia.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), March 9, 1922, p. 4
  11. Orange County and the State Board of Health hold free typhoid and diphtheria clinics across the county Orange County and the North Carolina State Board of Health offered free typhoid vaccine and diphtheria toxin-antitoxin to every white and Black resident in a campaign that ran from August 13 to September 8, 1923. Each treatment took three doses, and a weekly schedule set hours at the courthouse in Hillsboro and at schoolhouses, churches and crossroads from Carr, Cedar Grove and Efland to White Cross, Calvander and Carrboro, with an afternoon stop for Black residents at the Old Freedman's School House in Chapel Hill.The News (Chapel Hill), August 30, 1923, p. 8
  12. Health officer S. A. Nathan leads a campaign against mosquitoes in Chapel Hill Through the summer of 1924 the Chapel Hill board of health, directed by Nathan, drained standing water and treated breeding places with oil mixed with kerosene. Nathan asked both white and Black residents to report breeding places and said mosquitoes had decreased across town.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1924, p. 1 (Nathan vs. Mosquitoes)
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  1. Community Club hires a nurse to serve Chapel Hill's Black community The health department of the Chapel Hill Community Club engaged a Black nurse, known as Nurse Compton and formerly of Lincoln Hospital, who began on January 1, 1924, visiting homes, examining children at the Black schools and organizing clean-up campaigns. By May 1926 the town had taken over part of her salary and she worked under Health Officer Nathan.The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 7, 1924, p. 1 (The Colored Nurse Is Doing Valuable Work Among Her People) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 4
  2. A state tonsil and adenoid clinic treats 100 children at the Hillsborough high school The state clinic for adenoids and tonsils held at the high school building in Hillsboro closed on a Saturday after a week's work. It treated one hundred children, 89 white and 11 Black, and the News called it very successful.The News (Chapel Hill), September 4, 1924, p. 5
  3. Christmas seal money pays for tuberculosis care and a free clinic in Chapel Hill The Community Club's seal sale committee reported that seal money had sent an Orange County man to a sanatorium and paid $450 toward the nurse working among Black residents, who inoculated 68 people for typhoid and brought 36 patients to a free tuberculosis clinic.The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 27, 1924, p. 1 (Report on Use of Seal Money)
  4. Chapel Hill's Christmas Seal fund pays toward the Black public health nurse Reporting before the 1925 seal sale, the Community Club's health department said the tuberculosis fund had spent $256 more than the previous year's sale raised. It had paid $450 toward the salary of the Black public health nurse, $321 for sanatorium care of white and Black patients, and $30 for scales for the Black school's health crusade.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1925, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill's aldermen vote town money toward the Black public health nurse The aldermen voted $37.50 a month toward the salary of the town's Black public health nurse, on condition that the Black community make up its $125 shortfall from the year before. The Black community was to give $25 a month and the Red Cross and the tuberculosis seal fund $37.50, all paid through the town, with the nurse working under the health officer. People: R. D. W. Connor, S. A. NathanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 5, 1926, p. 1
  6. Orange County Training School students show their Red Cross home nursing training On May 12, 1926, five girls who had finished the Red Cross home nursing course under Nurse Compton showed their bed-making, bandaging and care of the sick at the Orange County Training School, Chapel Hill's Black school, along with a fashion show of dresses made in its domestic science classes. The Weekly reported that the town government had taken over part of the nurse's salary, first paid by the Red Cross, the tuberculosis seal fund and Black residents, making her a town employee under health officer S. A. Nathan. People: S. A. NathanThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 14, 1926, p. 1
  7. Christmas Seal money pays for a public health nurse for Black residents of Chapel Hill The Christmas Seal committee reported that during 1926 it spent $367 to maintain a public health nurse among Black residents of Chapel Hill, $320 for patients sent to sanatoria and $25 for the King's Daughters, out of a 1925 sale of $582 in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The local Red Cross had also paid $157 toward the nurse's salary.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 3, 1926, p. 1
  8. Annual benefit football games fund Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse From 1927 a yearly football game between Black teams, sponsored by the University YMCA, raised money for the public health nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black community, a project run by the Community Club. The 1941 game, played on Fetzer Field, involved the Orange County Training School and raised $275 net. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 21, 1941, p. 1 (Negro Game Next Week)
  9. Clinic for Black babies opens at Rock Hill Baptist Church A clinic sponsored by the Community Club and run by Nurse Compton examined 26 Black babies a year old or younger, two pairs of twins among them, with Dr. B. U. Brooks of Durham giving his services. Brooks offered to come back, and the clinic was held again on May 30, June 13, June 27 and August 8.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 20, 1927, p. 3
  10. Chapel Hill aldermen adopt the 1927-28 budget The board approved Town Manager E. M. Knox's budget, calling for $24,758 from taxes, and his report on five years' growth: automobiles in town up from 95 in 1921 to 500, sewer connections from 180 to 440, street lights from 40 to 95, and $275,000 spent on permanent improvements, with an $8,134 deficit turned into a $5,311 surplus. The town now paid a full-time health officer and a Black community nurse. People: Edward M. KnoxSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1927, p. 1
  11. The Red Cross stops paying toward the salary of Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse Opening the Christmas Seal sale on December 5, the Community Club's health committee announced that the Red Cross, which had given $120 a year toward the salary of Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse, could no longer do so, so a larger seal sale was needed. Mrs. Howe was to speak for the sale in the three Black churches.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1927, p. 1
  12. Orange County holds a child health clinic and parents' institute in Hillsboro On June 11-13, 1928, the Orange County Clinic and Parents' Institute in Hillsboro examined children and gave free vaccination against diphtheria, typhoid and smallpox, with seven physicians and three nurses giving their services. Speakers included Dr. B. U. Brooks, Wiley B. Saunders and Mrs. T. W. Bickett. People: David R. (David Robert) PerryThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 22, 1928, p. 3
  13. Chapel Hill charities agree to keep the nurse serving the Black community At a meeting in late July 1928, the Red Cross, the Community Club and the Tuberculosis Association decided to keep the public health nurse who worked among Chapel Hill's Black residents. The town paid $37.50 a month, the Tuberculosis Association $37.50, and Black residents raised the other $25; the Red Cross, which had given $2,804 since 1920, added $60 toward the 1927 deficit. People: Henry A. WhitfieldThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 3, 1928, p. 1
  14. Kiwanis Club dental clinic treats Chapel Hill school children For four months from about November 1928 Dr. J. P. Jones ran a dental clinic for Chapel Hill school children for the Kiwanis Club, which with $100 from the Red Cross paid reduced fees for pupils whose parents could not. He reported on March 12, 1929, that he had made 217 fillings, 76 extractions and 93 cleanings and given away 100 toothbrushes.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 15, 1929, p. 5
  15. Black Chapel Hill committee organizes to pay its share of the nurse's salary Leading Black citizens formed a committee, with Kennon Cheek as president, to raise their $300 share of the $1,200 salary of the nurse who worked among Black residents; the town and the Community Club each gave $450. They planned a benefit concert of spirituals at the Rock Hill Baptist Church on West Franklin Street. People: Kennon Cheek, Louis H. HackneyThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 26, 1929, p. 1
  16. Kiwanis Club and Red Cross complete a dental clinic for Chapel Hill schoolchildren The Kiwanis Club heard the final report of a dental clinic for elementary pupils run with the local Red Cross chapter: Dr. J. P. Jones examined 285 children free, the Red Cross paid for 106, and the Kiwanis Club paid for treatment, at a total cost of $173.35. The junior Red Cross gave each child a toothbrush and paste.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 17, 1929, p. 1
  17. Annual child health clinic examines pupils at the Carrboro school The annual child health clinic gave free examinations and vaccinations at the Carrboro school to children due to enter Carrboro, White Cross, Orange Grove, Tom's Creek, Rock Hill, Merritt's, Damascus, Andrews, Elm Grove, Blackwood, Smith Level or Chapel Hill schools the next year. Carrboro news later called it very successful.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 24, 1929, p. 5
  18. County welfare superintendent notes Orange has no health officer or public health nurse In a letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly, county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence wrote that Orange County had no county health officer, no county health department and no public health nurse, and that little preventive health work was being done. He contrasted Orange with Vance County, which had a health officer, a hospital and a tuberculosis sanatorium. People: George H. LawrenceThe Chapel Hill Weekly, September 27, 1929, p. 3 (letter from George H. Lawrence, Supt. of Public Welfare)
  19. Orange County commissioners offer to match gifts for an emergency health fund for the poor After welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence told them of sick people too poor to pay doctors or hospitals, the commissioners agreed to match private gifts dollar for dollar up to $500, once the county accountant found room in the budget. Orange had no hospital of its own, and hospitals in neighboring counties were reluctant to take its charity cases. People: George H. LawrenceThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 18, 1929, p. 1
  20. Black residents of Chapel Hill canvass the town to support their health nurse Black citizens organized a health week, to open with sermons in their churches on December 1, and divided the town into sections to raise $300, their share of a Black public health nurse's support, with a closing rally to hand the money to Mrs. H. D. Carter of the Community Club's health department. Kennon Cheek chaired the canvassing committee of John W. Johnson, F. J. Edwards, Walter Hackney and Sarah Caldwell. People: Kennon CheekThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 29, 1929, p. 1
  21. Falling collections force the tuberculosis fund to limit its support of Chapel Hill's Black nurse The treasurer of the local tuberculosis fund, which had been giving $450 a year toward the salary of the nurse serving Black residents, said small collections allowed it to pledge support only until June 1, the end of the town's fiscal year.The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 14, 1930, p. 1
  22. A&P president J. R. Hartford gives $150 toward Chapel Hill's Black nurse J. R. Hartford, president of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and a friend of Mrs. R. B. Lawson, sent her $150 for the support of the nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents.The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 14, 1930, p. 1
  23. A baby clinic for Black families opens at Rock Hill Baptist Church A clinic for Black babies opened at Rock Hill Baptist Church in Chapel Hill on May 1, 1930, and ran for several weeks, weighing and measuring an average of 18 babies a session while physicians advised mothers on feeding and care. Dr. Turner of Durham attended each session, the nurse was assisted by Callie Strowd and Etta Guthrie, and Andrews-Henninger and S. Berman gave prizes.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 18, 1930, p. 5
  24. Christmas seal fund pays $300 toward the nurse for Black residents Opening the 1930 seal sale, the committee reported that the previous year's sale had netted $362 and that $300 had gone toward the salary of the public health nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents. The town, the Red Cross and Black residents paid the rest, and Black residents planned a concert and a football game to raise their share. People: Kennon CheekThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 5, 1930, p. 1
  25. State health officer James M. Parrott plans a Chapel Hill training school that would also serve as Orange County's health department Working with university officials, the State Board of Health drew up a plan for a training school for county health workers at Chapel Hill. Because Orange County had no full-time health officer, the school's director would fill that post and the county nurse, sanitary officer and health secretary would teach, but the Rockefeller Foundation could find no money for it. People: Herman G. Baity, Frank Porter GrahamRobert Rodgers Korstad, Dreaming of a Time: The School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1939-1989 (1990), scan p. 29
  26. Orange County schools hold pre-school health clinics for next fall's first graders Children about to start school were examined at pre-school clinics at several places in Orange County, where doctors and nurses talked to the parents about bad tonsils, defective teeth, weak eyes and poor health habits. The county superintendent's office said about 400 six-year-olds entered the Orange schools each year and that half of them began with little chance of completing the year's work.The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 3, 1931, p. 8
  27. Chapel Hill's public health nurse for Black residents gives 282 typhoid inoculations in a month The nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents reported 67 sick visits, 214 general visits, an inspection of sanitary appliances and 282 inoculations against typhoid fever in July.The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 14, 1931, p. 1
  28. The nurse serving Black Chapel Hill holds a baby clinic and typhoid stations The anti-tuberculosis committee reported that its Christmas Seal money had paid $150 toward the salary of Nurse Compton, who served Chapel Hill's Black residents, and $130 for a patient at the state sanatorium. In 1932 she examined Black schoolchildren every month, visited homes, held a baby clinic and typhoid inoculation stations, and organized groups of mothers to study diet, home sanitation and home nursing.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1932, p. 1
  29. A five-week county campaign gives children free diphtheria and typhoid shots Beginning June 8, 1932, a five-week campaign to protect children against diphtheria and typhoid was held at school buildings across Orange County, with the county's physicians giving the inoculations without charge. Chapel Hill health officer S. A. Nathan directed it.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 27, 1932, p. 1 (Inoculation Campaign) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 10, 1932, p. 1
  30. Hundreds take typhoid vaccine at Chapel Hill clinic after new cases After several new typhoid cases were reported in late June 1932, about 600 people received typhoid vaccine at the Chapel Hill public clinic in a single day, and the Infirmary gave the treatment on any day. Town health authorities said the water supply was not the source. People: Eric A. Abernethy, S. A. NathanThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1932, p. 1 (Water Here Not Causing Typhoid, Says Abernethy)
  31. Free health examination clinic for children entering school in Chapel Hill The Parent Teachers' Association arranged a free clinic at the school building to examine all children due to enter school that fall, with physicians from Duke Hospital and Chapel Hill dentists, and urged vaccination against smallpox, diphtheria and typhoid.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 12, 1933, p. 1 (clinic for children entering school) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 19, 1933, p. 5
  32. Public health nurse Compton holds three clinics for Black babies in Chapel Hill Public health nurse Compton, who served Chapel Hill's Black residents under the Community Club's health department, held three clinics for Black babies, with Dr. B. U. Brooks of Durham giving his services. Speaking for the club, Mrs. A. M. Jordan credited the nurse's work for the good condition of the babies, and two merchants gave prizes for the three best.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 21, 1933, p. 2
  33. The Orange County Training School plays Chatham's training school to support the Black community's nurse The annual football game between Black high school teams on Emerson Field, sponsored by the University YMCA, matched the Orange County Training School of Chapel Hill against the Chatham County Training School on November 24, 1934. Gate receipts came to about $140, and after expenses and Chatham's $25 guarantee about $105 went to support the nurse who served Chapel Hill's Black residents.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 14, 1934, p. 5
  34. A dental clinic treats 340 children at Chapel Hill's school for Black children A dental clinic at the Chapel Hill school for Black children examined 456 children and treated 340, making 157 amalgam and 54 cement fillings and 245 extractions. Black residents raised $100 of the cost through a benefit concert, church circles and their parent-teacher association; women's missionary societies of three white churches, the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, the Spanish War Veterans and the Red Cross gave the rest.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1935, p. 6
  35. Dr. Charles Mangum outlines a proposed federally aided health district tied to UNC training Early in June 1935 Dr. Charles S. Mangum explained to the Orange County commissioners in Hillsboro, and on the evening of June 5 to the Chapel Hill aldermen, a proposed public health district of Orange, Person and Caswell counties, largely paid for by the U.S. Public Health Service. The commissioners assured him Orange would give up to $2,500 of its $3,600 share, and Person and Caswell had agreed to pay theirs. On June 14 the Weekly printed his article on the plan, which would also train health officers, sanitary inspectors, public health nurses and secretaries, building on UNC's 1934 to 1935 public health administration courses. People: Charles Staples MangumThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 14, 1935, p. 1 (Dr. Mangum Tells of Health Service Proposed for Three-County District) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 7, 1935, p. 1
  36. Temporary county health unit starts work in Orange during a typhoid outbreak Because typhoid fever had appeared in the county, a temporary health organization, set up as part of the planned district unit, began operating in Orange County on July 1, 1935. Its staff were acting health officer Dr. G. A. Sumner (lent by the State Board of Health), acting health nurse Marie Strickland, secretary Ida Lloyd and sanitary inspector E. B. Caruthers.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1935, p. 1 (The New Health Service, letter dated July 25)
  37. A clinic examines 19 Black babies in Chapel Hill Dr. B. U. Brooks, with nurses Compton, Etta Guthrie and Callie Strowd, held a clinic at which 19 Black babies were examined; those needing treatment were to be taken to a Durham hospital, and more clinics depended on the infantile paralysis situation.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 12, 1935, p. 4
  38. The temporary county health unit vaccinates 4,200 people against typhoid in southern Orange In its summer campaign against a typhoid outbreak, the temporary county health unit vaccinated 4,200 people in the southern half of Orange County and then held final clinics at St. Mary's, Caldwell, Schley, Walnut Grove, Carr and Aycock schools on August 6 and 8. People: Charles Staples MangumThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 2, 1935, p. 4
  39. Orange-Person District Health Department organized with Dr. Malcolm Rourk as health officer Full-time public health service began in Orange County on July 1, 1935, when a temporary unit under Dr. G. H. Sumner of the State Board of Health answered a typhoid outbreak. By August the district health department for Orange and Person counties was organized as a model unit linked to UNC's public health teaching, with Dr. Malcolm Henderson Rourk as district health officer, sanitary inspector E. B. Caruthers, and a public health nurse and clerk in each county. The district officer also took over Chapel Hill's municipal health authority.The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 9, 1935, p. 1 (Inspection Here in September by New Health Unit)
  40. Aldermen back the new district health department after recorder's court setbacks District health officer Malcolm H. Rourk and sanitary inspector E. P. Caruthers told the aldermen that rulings by Recorder L. J. Phipps had balked their work: he had acquitted a dairyman charged under the town milk ordinance and had arrested judgment in a restaurant case, holding that the state law delegated lawmaking power to the state board of health. The aldermen unanimously pledged the health department their support; the restaurant case was appealed to superior court in Hillsboro. People: Luther James PhippsThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 17, 1936, p. 1
  41. Dr. W. P. Richardson becomes health officer of the district serving Orange Richardson, lent by the State Board of Health, was elected acting county health officer by the county board of health in January 1936, when Dr. M. H. Rourk was given a month's leave to be with his ill father; he was still acting in Rourk's absence in late February, and by March the Weekly was calling him the health officer. Lefler and Wager say Rourk left in February 1936. Richardson served until Dr. O. D. Garvin replaced him in 1944. People: William P. RichardsonLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 216 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 24, 1936, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 21, 1936, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 13, 1936, p. 1
  42. Grace Beatty appointed supervising nurse of the district health unit Acting district health officer Dr. William P. Richardson appointed Grace Beatty, who held a master's degree in public health nursing from Columbia, as supervising nurse under an enlarged program funded by Social Security money. By July 1936 the Orange-Person staff of 11 included staff nurses Agnes Tolbert in Chapel Hill and Ruth O'Briant and Lieotta Hall in Roxboro. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 28, 1936, p. 3 (Nurse Engaged)
  43. The Orange-Person district health unit wins a federal grant of about $20,000 a year After Congress funded the Social Security Act, about $20,000 a year, probably for ten years, was allotted through the State Board of Health to the district health unit for Orange and Person counties, headquartered in Chapel Hill. The grant raised the unit's budget to about $36,000, doubled its health officers, nurses and sanitary inspectors, and added forty weeks a year of dental work in the schools.The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 21, 1936, p. 1
  44. A federally financed public health training course for the Southeastern states opens at the University On March 23, 1936 the new public health division of the University medical school, under Dr. Milton J. Rosenau, began a twelve-week course for 47 physicians, sanitary engineers and sanitary inspectors from Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. The Weekly reported that the Government had chosen Chapel Hill as the teaching center for the Southeastern district, paid for largely with Social Security money allotted by the states. People: M. J. (Milton Joseph) Rosenau, Charles Staples MangumSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 27, 1936, p. 1
  45. The county welfare and health departments set up a free syphilis clinic in Chapel Hill On March 10, 1936 county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence and health officer Dr. William P. Richardson proposed to local physicians a clinic for people unable to pay for treatment of syphilis, paid for at first by the Red Cross, the Movie Guild and other groups. The physicians then named Dr. Roscoe Farabee clinic physician for the first year, and the clinic was set for Thursdays from 4 to 6 at the health unit's quarters from the week of March 23, with clinics to follow in Hillsboro and Roxboro. People: George H. Lawrence, William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 13, 1936, p. 1
  46. Orange County begins rabies vaccination of dogs under the state law On Monday, May 4, 1936 J. H. Hanner, chairman of the county commissioners, announced after conferring with health officer Dr. William P. Richardson that dogs in Orange County would be vaccinated against rabies that spring under the state law, with an inspector appointed by Dr. Richardson in each township. The health department was to show the inspectors how to give the vaccine. People: William P. Richardson, John Hodge HannerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 8, 1936, p. 1
  47. Health officer reports on the preschool clinics in Chapel Hill and Carrboro The health department finished its round of preschool clinics, with 25 children at the Chapel Hill clinic and 34 at Carrboro. Health officer W. P. Richardson credited a committee of women with much of the success and reported that 56 correctible defects were found among 38 of the 59 children examined.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 29, 1936, p. 1 (The Pre-School Clinics)
  48. The district health department adds an assistant health officer and a veterinarian By May 1, 1936 the Orange-Person district health department had appointed Dr. S. V. Lewis, lately of the U.S. Public Health Service on Ocracoke Island, assistant health officer stationed at Roxboro, and Dr. W. G. Chrisman of Leaksville its veterinarian, reporting May 1. The department was then quartered in the former D.K.E. house on Fraternity Row, with set office hours for the health officer, nurse and sanitary officer. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 1, 1936, p. 1
  49. The district health department opens its summer vaccination clinics in the county The district health department began its summer campaign against diphtheria, typhoid and smallpox with clinics in the southwestern part of the county, at the Wilson service station, Antioch, White Cross and Orange Grove, to be repeated on later dates into July. Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson urged people missed the year before to come. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1936, p. 2
  50. First field training course for North Carolina public health workers held in the Orange-Person District A month-long field training course for 29 new public health workers (14 nurses, 6 sanitary officers, 4 sanitary engineers and 5 health officers), described as the first in North Carolina, ended in Chapel Hill in early July 1936 under Dr. William P. Richardson. The Orange-Person and Durham health departments then ran as a joint field training center, and by July 1937 it had trained 109 workers. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 10, 1936, p. 6 (Training Course Ends)
  51. Rabid dogs at White Cross and Calvander lead to a thirty-day dog quarantine Three dogs killed in the country near Chapel Hill, two at White Cross and one at Calvander, were found rabid by the state laboratory. The district veterinarian, Dr. W. G. Chrisman, traced and killed most of the dogs they had bitten and asked owners in the area to keep their dogs confined for thirty days.The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1936, p. 3
  52. Orange County goes the summer without a reported typhoid case Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson reported that not a single case of typhoid fever had been reported in Orange County that summer, a year after an outbreak, and credited the 1935 vaccination campaign in part. He said sanitary privies and protected wells at rural homes and schools were the lasting cure, since typhoid had become mainly a rural problem. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 31, 1936, p. 1
  53. The Orange-Person health department begins its second year with a staff of eleven The district health department, which also served Chapel Hill, began its first year of full operation with eleven staff members under health officer Dr. William P. Richardson, a budget of about $30,000 (about half from federal Social Security funds), and permanent headquarters in the old DKE house near Hill Music Hall. It was meant as a model for district health departments in North Carolina and other states. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 24, 1936, p. 1
  54. District health department holds midwife classes across Orange County Classes for midwives were held at Efland and Hillsboro and began for those in and near Chapel Hill at the health department offices, with attendance required before a permit to practice would be issued. Health officer W. P. Richardson said 17 percent of births in the county were attended by midwives, against 31 percent statewide.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1936, p. 5 (classes for midwives)
  55. Chapel Hill licenses its food businesses and begins daily meat inspection Under a town ordinance, permits were issued in September to every Chapel Hill business that made, stored or sold food, milk or drinks, and the district health department began inspecting locally slaughtered meat each morning at the markets and restaurants. In the first month it inspected 27 beeves, 110 calves, 6 lambs and a pig and condemned 50 pounds of spoiled meat; all but two restaurants were graded A.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 2, 1936, p. 1
  56. Nurse A. D. Compton sets up a clinic room at Chapel Hill's Black school Nurse A. D. Compton, who had carried most of the health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents for thirteen years with tuberculosis-seal money, established a clinic room at the school, furnished with a bed, cabinet and linoleum given by members of the Black community, and planned a course in sickroom practice for the graduating class. She weighed and examined the children every year and lent sickroom equipment, washing the returned linen herself for lack of funds.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1936, p. 6
  57. The Orange-Person district health department reports on its first full year Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson reported 11 cases of diphtheria, 2 of scarlet fever, 1 of typhoid and 1 of meningitis in Orange County in 1936, none near Chapel Hill; a fall rise in diphtheria had brought the testing of school contacts and toxoid for children found susceptible. A WPA project had built 162 sanitary privies in the county, the Chapel Hill syphilis clinic had reopened with about 30 patients, every eating place for white people in Chapel Hill held an A rating, and midwives who could not meet state standards had been stopped from practicing. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 24, 1936, p. 1
  58. The district health department opens an office in Hillsboro Alterations were finished on quarters in the former garage building behind the courthouse in Hillsboro, and the district health department made ready to move in, with sanitarian E. P. Caruthers in charge and a full-time secretary. Health officer W. P. Richardson planned to be there Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, with other staff members coming daily and the office keeping regular hours in touch with the Chapel Hill office. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 19, 1937, p. 4
  59. Measles spreads in the Efland community District health officer W. P. Richardson reported 44 cases of measles from the Efland community in the four weeks before April 23, 1937, and warned that it might be the start of a considerable outbreak in the county. The health department urged parents to watch for early symptoms and pointed to a new preparation that could make the disease milder in exposed young children. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 23, 1937, p. 1
  60. The district health department reports Orange County's death and birth rates for 1936 Orange County's death rate for 1936 was 8.7 per 1,000, higher than the year before but well below the state average, and its birth rate 16.1; the infant death rate, corrected for residence, was 60.1 against 67.9 for the state. Heart disease led the causes with 52 deaths, and Chapel Hill reported 23 deaths, 16 white and 7 Black.The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1937, p. 1
  61. The Orange-Person health department begins a second year as a state training center Dr. William P. Richardson reported that in its first year as part of North Carolina's field training center for new health workers, the Orange-Person department, working with Durham's, had given a month's training to 109 people: 60 nurses, 35 sanitary officers and 14 health officers. The Weekly said the center was one of the first set up under the Social Security program. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 23, 1937, p. 5
  62. The district health department grades the eating places of Orange County After the first survey to take in the lunch counters of filling stations and drugstores, the district health department and the State Board of Health graded the county's eating places: seven in Chapel Hill rated A and others B or C, Ivey's in Carrboro B, and five Hillsboro places B and two C. Many small places closed their food counters rather than make the changes the law required.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 16, 1937, p. 5
  63. Chatham County joins the Orange-Person Health District District health officer Dr. William P. Richardson announced that Chatham County had joined the Orange-Person Health District, which would provide a physician, a nurse and a sanitary officer for the new county. The State Board of Health had kept a nurse in Chatham for the past year with U.S. Children's Bureau funds. People: William P. RichardsonDigitalNC: Person County Times, October 28, 1937, p. 8 (Health Service Improved)
  64. Black schools of Chapel Hill and Henderson play a benefit game for the community nurse The football game on Emerson Field raised more than $100 toward the trained nurse who did public health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents. Chapel Hill won 13 to 6, and President and Mrs. Frank Graham were among the spectators. People: Frank Porter GrahamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 17, 1937, p. 5
  65. District health department classes register 56 midwives and grant 42 permits Under the rule that every midwife must attend the district health department's classes before getting a permit, 56 women registered for instruction in 1938 and 42 received permits. The department also ran four maternal and infant health centers with the State Board of Health and the U.S. Children's Bureau.The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 24, 1939, p. 3
  66. The Orange County board of health requires smallpox vaccination of all schoolchildren During 1938 the boards of health of Orange and Chatham counties passed an ordinance requiring smallpox vaccination of every school child, as was already the rule in Person County, according to the district health department's annual report. By the next spring the Chapel Hill schools told parents that no child could enter in September without it. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 24, 1939, p. 3
  67. The district health department reports its 1938 work in Orange County Dr. W. P. Richardson's summary for 1938 counted 1,015 smallpox vaccinations, 516 diphtheria and 2,857 typhoid immunizations, 5,084 syphilis treatments and 373 people X-rayed for tuberculosis, with 587 cases of measles reported in Orange County but no deaths from contagious disease. He reported that a sanitary survey of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community had been completed and that meat markets had been brought under the same supervision as cafés. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 3, 1939, p. 6
  68. The district health department holds its first fluoroscope clinic in Chapel Hill A house trailer fitted with a fluoroscopic x-ray unit, paid for by civic organizations in Orange, Person and Chatham counties, was to hold free monthly tuberculosis clinics at the department's offices in Roxboro, Hillsboro, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. At the first Chapel Hill clinic a dozen people, mostly contacts of known cases, were examined and one new case was found. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 21, 1938, p. 1
  69. The Orange, Person and Chatham boards of health meet together in Hillsborough At the joint meeting in the courthouse, Dr. Charles S. Mangum reviewed the district health unit's growth to a staff of 14 under Dr. W. P. Richardson and a $43,000 budget, and the boards named an executive committee to draw up a district health program. A proposed three-county home of 50 to 70 beds for incurable tuberculosis patients drew strong support but no formal action. People: Charles Staples Mangum, William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 11, 1938, p. 1
  70. The district health department takes its trailer X-ray unit to tuberculosis clinics The Chatham-Orange-Person health department's fluoroscopic X-ray, mounted in a trailer, had held nine tuberculosis clinics, examined 225 people (mostly family contacts of known cases) and found 10 adult-type and 6 childhood-type cases. The American Public Health Association asked for photographs of the unit for a national exhibit. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1938, p. 1
  71. State offers the three-county district $5,900 for venereal disease control At a meeting of county commissioners in Chapel Hill, State Board of Health executive officer Dr. Carl V. Reynolds offered the Chatham-Orange-Person district $5,900 from the Smith Reynolds Foundation fund for venereal disease control, if the district matched it. The program called for examinations and clinics to bring every infected person in the district under treatment.The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 13, 1938, p. 1 ($5,900, Part of Reynolds Foundation Grant, Offered to District by State Health Board)
  72. A typhoid case in Hillsborough is Orange County's first since 1936 A two-year-old child in Hillsborough came down with typhoid fever, the first case reported in Orange County since 1936. Health officer William P. Richardson traced it probably to a carrier and urged vaccination at the department's free clinics. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 10, 1938, p. 1
  73. Black families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro raise gardens and put up 2,000 quarts in a nurse-led contest A vegetable garden contest begun in 1937 by Nurse Compton and the Mothers' Mission Clubs No. 2 and No. 3 carried on through 1938; Nurse Compton told the Weekly that about 95 per cent of Black families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro had gardens and that they had canned about 2,000 quarts of fruit and vegetables in August and September. No prizes were given that year because a ten-day wet spell in July spoiled all the gardens just before judging; Rev. J. S. Miller, Rev. J. S. Holt and the Mothers' Club officers helped lead the exchange of seeds, plants and produce.The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 14, 1938, p. 2
  74. The Orange County Training School football game clears nearly $100 for the Black nursing service The University YMCA's annual benefit football game, begun eight years before, matched the Orange County Training School against Dudley High School of Greensboro on Fetzer Field, with four University varsity players as officials; Chapel Hill won, and the game cleared almost $100 toward the nursing service for Black families too poor to pay for it.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 9, 1938, p. 5
  75. A tuberculosis clinic tests 636 Chapel Hill schoolchildren At a three-day clinic run by the district health department with the P.T.A. and the Community Club's health department, 636 Chapel Hill schoolchildren were given tuberculin skin tests; the 225 who reacted were examined by fluoroscope, and one possible adult-type case and three active childhood-type infections were found. Examinations were also offered to any resident who asked, white or Black. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 10, 1939, p. 6
  76. An influenza epidemic closes the Hillsborough schools An influenza epidemic closed the Hillsborough schools early in 1939; the district health officer reported in mid-March that it was subsiding. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 17, 1939, p. 1
  77. Typhoid fever breaks out in West Hillsborough An outbreak of typhoid fever in West Hillsborough affected eight people; district health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson said in mid-March that he hoped it was checked. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 17, 1939, p. 1
  78. A survey of 661 Orange County schoolchildren finds hookworm rare Dr. Harold W. Brown and A. J. Sheldon of the University's public health division examined 418 white and 243 Black Orange County schoolchildren and found only one hookworm infection, which they credited to the county's clay soil. They found roundworm (ascaris) in 29 children, most of them Black, and their report attributed this to soil pollution and the lack of proper sanitary facilities for Black families. The Weekly said no such survey had been made in the county before. People: William P. Richardson, Harold W. BrownThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 14, 1939, p. 1
  79. Nurse Compton reviews her years of public health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents In an article for the Weekly on December 1, 1939, Nurse Compton, a 1922 graduate of Lincoln Hospital in Durham, recalled that her first census of the Black section counted about 900 people, a number that had since nearly doubled. She described the change from wells and privies emptied by wagon to sewer and town water, curbs and gutters, tonsil and baby clinics, a weekly town garbage truck, and the newer health and welfare departments.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 4
  80. UNC School of Public Health runs a Rockefeller-funded syphilis study in Orange and neighboring counties The School of Public Health's first research project, a field epidemiological study of syphilis funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, ran from 1940 to 1950 with the state venereal disease control program in Orange, Chatham, Person and Durham counties. Project staff held clinics, lectured and traced contacts in the health departments.UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health: The UNC Department of Epidemiology: Our First 40 Years, 1936–1976 (2018) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1940, p. 3
  81. The Junior Service League opens free clinics for Black and white babies With the district health department, the Junior Service League opened free monthly clinics for children under two, the clinic for Black babies at the Orange County Training School and the clinic for white babies at the Carrboro school, with Dr. Rena Henry in charge, giving immunizations, examinations and advice on diet. By April the Black clinic had seen 12 and then 22 babies at its first two sessions and the Carrboro clinic 42 in two.The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1940, p. 1
  82. An eye clinic at the health department examines fifty children, more than half of them Black An eye clinic held at the health department by the local health and welfare departments and the State Commission for the Blind examined 50 children, more than half of them Black, and found 39 who needed glasses. Families who could paid the small cost of the glasses, and money given by local groups and citizens bought them for the rest.The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1940, p. 5
  83. The district health department's 1939 report shows low death rates in Orange County and a wide racial gap in tuberculosis The district health department's annual report put Orange County's 1939 death rate at 6.2 per thousand, one of the lowest on record, and its infant death rate at 21.2 per thousand live births against 68.6 for the state, with no deaths from childbirth. It also showed that the Black death rate from tuberculosis had run three to five times the white rate for ten years. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1940, p. 1
  84. A Training School football game raises $200 for Chapel Hill's Black community nurse The Orange County Training School beat the Creecy school of Rich Square on Fetzer Field in a benefit game that netted $200 for the nurse who served the Black residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Harry Comer of the Y.M.C.A., which managed the game, said it was the best result since the first such game eleven years earlier. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 6, 1940, p. 1
  85. Benefit football game raises $275 for the Black public health nurse fund The Black school's football game against Lexington on Fetzer Field, sponsored by the University YMCA, cleared $275 for the public health nurse fund for Black residents, $50 more than the year before. YMCA secretary Harry Comer said it drew the biggest crowd since the games began in 1927, and members of the University Janitors Association sold $160 of the 25-cent tickets. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 5, 1941, p. 1
  86. Junior Service League runs well-baby clinics in Carrboro and at the Training School Louis Graves visited the Junior Service League's well-baby clinic for white children in the small frame building that had been the office of Durham Hosiery Mill No. 4 in Carrboro, lent rent-free by the company leasing the mill property; the league's clinic for Black children met on the third Tuesday of each month at the Orange County Training School. Dr. Beryl Mason attended both, with public health nurses at each, and health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson praised the project. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 12, 1943, p. 1
  87. Hillsborough well-baby clinics are held separately for Black and white babies The Junior Service League and the district health department held two well-baby clinics each month in Hillsborough, one for Black babies and one for white babies, focused on preventive care.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 6, 1944, p. 2
  88. District health officer reports the season's typhoid cases Dr. William P. Richardson, district health officer, reported two confirmed cases of typhoid fever in the district in the past two months, one in Chatham County and one in Person County, with a suspected case in Person County and indirect reports of two cases in Orange County that health officials had not been able to confirm.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 15, 1944, p. 1 (Dr. Richardson)
  89. O. David Garvin becomes health officer of the district covering Orange County Garvin came to the district in 1944 on assignment from the North Carolina State Board of Health and the Public Health Service during the war emergency, after a year and a half in Scotland and Richmond counties. A later account of his resignation gave his starting date as September 4, 1944.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 30, 1959, p. 1 (Dr. Garvin Resigns As Health Officer)
  90. Newspaper describes the work of Orange County's public health nurses A News of Orange County piece described the county public health nurses' duties: school inspections, immunization against diphtheria and smallpox, well-baby clinics twice a month, a monthly maternity clinic, tuberculosis and venereal disease clinics, orthopedic referrals, and the wartime maternity and infant care program for servicemen's wives.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 25, 1945, p. 2 (editorial on county public health nurses)
  91. Health officer Garvin warns that Orange County's tuberculosis rate runs well above the state's Speaking to the county Agricultural Workers Council, district health officer O. David Garvin said Orange County's reported tuberculosis rate had run between 50 and 60 per 100,000 against 36.5 for the state, and that 134 of the 165 cases reported in the three-county district in five years had died. He warned that many cases were not reported until too late to treat. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 15, 1945, p. 6
  92. Diphtheria breaks out in Orange County, with twelve cases in two months Health officials reported twelve diphtheria cases in Orange County in October and November, beginning with four confirmed cases in West Hillsborough. They urged parents to have children vaccinated at the county clinics.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 22, 1945, p. 1
  93. Lee County joins the health district serving Orange The district health department, begun with Person County in 1935 and joined by Chatham in 1937, added Lee County in 1946.Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 216
  94. A mass chest X-ray survey screens Hillsboro and West Hillsboro The district health department and the local tuberculosis committee X-rayed residents free at West Hillsboro and at the Agriculture Building in Hillsboro. Some 1,460 small films found six previously unknown cases of tuberculosis, and the Lions Club voted full cooperation. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 14, 1946, p. 1
  95. The district health department schedules its X-ray unit for free chest X-rays in Chapel Hill The Orange-Chatham-Person Health Department announced that its X-ray unit would operate at the Chapel Hill health department from March 13 to 20, 1946, offering free chest X-rays for tuberculosis to any Orange County resident. Health officer Dr. O. David Garvin urged residents to use it. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 7, 1946, p. 1 (X-Ray Unit to Move to Village)
  96. The West Hillsboro Civic Organization starts a monthly well-baby clinic A well-baby conference sponsored by the West Hillsboro Civic Organization opened at the West Hillsboro elementary school, to meet on the first Tuesday of each month. Public health nurse Elizabeth Robertson ran it under district health officer Dr. O. David Garvin, offering diphtheria, whooping cough and smallpox protection. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 29, 1946, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 26, 1946, p. 5
  97. The Public Health Service gives the district health department a mass chest X-ray unit The U.S. Public Health Service assigned the Orange-Person-Chatham district health department a 35-millimeter photographic X-ray unit that could take two to four chest pictures a minute without anyone undressing, after a 1946 survey showed the need. Its first clinics were set for January 23 to 25 at the Hillsboro health office and at Eno Mill in West Hillsboro. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 2, 1947, p. 1
  98. The district board of health adopts the standard milk ordinance for Orange, Person and Chatham At its first meeting of the year, in Chapel Hill, the district board of health adopted the standard milk ordinance, to take effect July 1 in Orange, Person and Chatham counties, setting regular inspections of dairy farms and milk plants and rules for processing and handling milk. The board re-elected Dr. L. E. Fields to a four-year term. People: Collier Cobb Jr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 23, 1947, p. 1
  99. The new Carrboro Health Center becomes home of the area's well-baby clinics The second fall well-baby clinic, run by Dr. Fred Patterson of Chapel Hill and county health department nurses, examined more than 30 babies at the Carrboro Health Center behind the Carrboro school, which had been painted and fitted up and was to hold all clinics from then on. The Carrboro Civic Club and the Chapel Hill Junior League sponsored the clinics.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 11, 1947, p. 3
  100. The district board of health extends its ordinances to Lee County The District Board of Health for Orange, Person, Chatham and Lee counties met at the Bank of Chapel Hill and extended the district's milk and excreta disposal ordinances to Lee County, which had joined the district in September 1946. Collier Cobb Jr. chaired the board. People: Collier Cobb Jr.DigitalNC: The Courier-Times (Roxboro), May 10, 1948, p. 1 (District Board of Health Holds Meet in Chapel Hill)
  101. Health officer urges typhoid shots after a case in Hillsboro District Health Officer O. David Garvin urged Orange County residents to take the health department's typhoid vaccinations after a case of typhoid fever occurred in Hillsboro. Clinics were held at the Chapel Hill and Hillsboro health departments on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and he advised sound privies and tested water.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 8, 1948, p. 1 (Health Officer Urges Typhoid Shots)
  102. District health department takes UNC public health students for field training Health officer Dr. O. David Garvin announced that the district health department would serve as a field training center for eight UNC public health students, four in health education and four in public health nursing, working for ten weeks across Orange, Person, Chatham and Lee counties. People: O. David GarvinThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 1, 1949, p. 4 (8 Students to Study in the Health Dept.)
  103. The district health department starts bedside nursing in southern Orange County When the book was written, the health department's latest service was a small bedside nursing program for southern Orange County, carried on jointly with the University Hospital and its outpatient department. For 1952-53 the county appropriated $14,000 to the department.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 216
  104. The district health department hires its first full-time dentist The Orange-Person-Chatham-Lee district health department hired Dr. John T. Hughes, a Pittsboro dentist, as a full-time district dentist to take charge of oral hygiene in the schools of the four counties from March 1. Health officer Dr. O. David Garvin said it was the first time a dentist had been assigned permanently to a single district. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 20, 1955, p. 1
  105. First Salk polio vaccinations given to Orange County first and second graders Local physicians working under the county health department gave the first round of Salk polio vaccine to more than 1,150 Orange County first and second graders. The work began on Monday, April 18, 1955 with about 500 Chapel Hill area children and finished on April 21 with the Hillsboro, Efland and Aycock schools. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 21, 1955, p. 1 (Salk Vaccinations for 1150 Orange Children Is Progressing Smoothly)
  106. Orange County first and second graders get their second Salk shots The district health department gave second Salk vaccine doses to children who had their first shot in the spring: in Chapel Hill on July 21 and 22 for pupils of the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Glenwood, Northside, White Cross and Little Red Schoolhouse schools, and in Hillsboro on July 27, with school buses sent to county schools. Turnout at Hillsboro was low, with only 65 children by 11 a.m.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 19, 1955, p. 1 ("Polio Shots to Be Given Here Two Days This Week") · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1955, p. 8
  107. Caswell County joins the Orange-Person-Chatham-Lee district health department Caswell County became the fifth county in the district health department led by Dr. O. D. Garvin, joining Orange, Person, Chatham and Lee after its former partner Rockingham left to form its own unit. Caswell brought two nurses and an office clerk and a share of $21,000 for 1957-58, against Orange's $25,000. People: O. David GarvinThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 1, 1957, p. 1
  108. Buckhorn Grange holds a health fair Several hundred people came to the Buckhorn Grange's health fair at the Buckhorn community building to see nearly 50 exhibits on health and safety, a fire-control demonstration by the Chapel Hill fire department, a rollover tractor safety show by State College and a resuscitator demonstration. The Grange held it with the community's Blue Ribbon farm and home advisory board and the University's public health education school; the News called it the first health fair ever held in this part of the state.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 22, 1957, p. 1
  109. O. David Garvin resigns as health director of the five county district, then withdraws his resignation Garvin, health director for Orange, Person, Chatham, Lee and Caswell counties since 1944, announced in April 1959 that he would resign effective June 15 to rejoin the U.S. Public Health Service. In June he withdrew the resignation and stayed, after the district health board raised his salary. The paper described him as a native of Wagner, South Carolina.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 30, 1959, p. 1 (Dr. Garvin Resigns As Health Officer) · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 11, 1959, p. 1

Places in this history

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Indexed works

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Community health assessment, Orange County, NC

2011 · Orange County Health Dept.

Orange County Health Department's community health assessment for the county, dated December 2011 and published in Hillsborough. A public health report of 240 pages plus 124 unnumbered pages, with color illustrations and maps.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Public health -- North Carolina -- Orange County.

UNC

Cedar Grove, Orange County : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action

2002 · Dept. of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Graduate students in health behavior and health education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill produced this action oriented community diagnosis of Cedar Grove in 2002, completed for a course in the School of Public Health. It sets out findings on community health services, public health and economic conditions in that part of Orange County, with next steps for action. Seventy-three pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Public health -- North Carolina -- Orange County.

UNC

Annual report

Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department (N.C.) · 1964 · Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department

The 1964 annual report of the Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department, the joint public health agency that served the three counties from offices in Chapel Hill. Public health in Orange, Person and Chatham counties runs through the series.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Public health -- North Carolina -- Orange County -- Periodicals.

UNC

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