At the turn of the twentieth century, Pennsylvania was the second largest state by population and one of the wealthiest due to its abundant natural resources and rapid industrial expansion. Despite Pennsylvania’s wealth, it was also the least-healthy of the major industrial states. This was especially the case with respect to tuberculosis, a disease that caused almost 15 percent of all deaths in the Commonwealth. Beginning in 1905, the state launched the nation's largest, most sophisticated multi-level approach to tuberculosis prevention and treatment. At the head of this effort was Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, a University of Pennsylvania-trained lawyer and physician whose scientific achievements rivaled those of many better known European and American scientists. This is the story of the largest antituberculosis campaign in history, whose foundation radically transformed public health in Pennsylvania and throughout America.
About the Speaker: James Higgins is an historian of medicine. After spending twenty-five years as a university lecturer and assistant professor, he made the leap to public history and is now the executive director of the Lehigh County Historical Society and Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum. Despite his transition to public history, he has an active research agenda and concentrates on producing scholarly works that are accessible to the interested reader. His newest book, The War Against Tuberculosis: Samuel G. Dixon and the Rise of Modern Public Health in Pennsylvania was published by Penn State Press in 2025.
Admission is Pay as You Wish! Your donation is greatly appreciated. All proceeds benefit the development of future programming and the preservation of the History Center and its collections. The History Center is home to over 750,000 manuscripts, 100,000 photographs, and 70,000 artifacts. Your donation helps us to preserve and share those resources.
Presentation is via Zoom, and will be recorded and available for 7 days for all registered participants. We will email out a Zoom link the day of the presentation, and email a link to the recording within 24 hours. Note: the Zoom link emailed out the day of the presentation only takes you to the live presentation; the link emailed out the day after will contain the recorded version.
The History Matters Speaker Series is made possible through the generous support of The Haverford Trust Company.
Register here:
https://buytickets.at/chestercountyhistorycenter/1815319
You may also like the following events from Chester County History Center:
- This Wednesday, 20th August, 06:00 pm, Architectural History Walking Tour in West Chester
- This Saturday, 23rd August, 12:30 pm, Cartooning Chester County: The Art of the Story (Family Event) in West Chester
- Next month, 5th September, 06:00 pm, True Crime on Trial (Exton, PA) in West Chester
Also check out other
Nonprofit events in Arverne,
Health & Wellness events in Arverne.
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