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ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Public health service originated in Montgomery County in response to the County's obligation to collect vital statistics, as required by the State of Maryland's Vital Statistics Law.

In 1884, a Board of Health was created to serve the district of Olney "to make sanitary investigations respecting the cause of diseases, and to investigate all nuisances" such as "filthy pig pens, privies, and all...causes which may tend to vitiate the water supply" and to collect statistics of diseases and deaths in the Olney district.

The year 1898, when the County hired Dr. Edward Stonestreet as the County Health Officer on a part-time basis, may be regarded as the founding date for the Department of Health. The first public health nurse was hired in 1918. In 1920, Dr. William T. Pratt became the County's first full-time Health Officer. The first complete health unit was opened in Rockville in 1931 followed during the 1930s and 1940s by health centers in Takoma Park, Bethesda, Silver Spring, and eight other locations.

In 1933, the Department comprised a full-time Health Officer, and four nurses. The Department's activities increased accordingly. In the 1930s, special concern had been with a school hygiene program, a tuberculosis program, and maternal hygiene. By 1960 the County ran, among other facilities and programs, a psychiatric youth service, an alcoholic rehabilitation clinic, and a clinic for crippled children. Along with its staff and activities, the Department adapted its organizational structure to meet the growing demands for health service by Montgomery County residents. Agencies providing public health services in the County have encountered a number of organizational changes throughout their history. In 1991 the Department of Health Services consisted of seven divisions: Drug Abuse, Alcohol and Behavior Disorder Services, Family Health Services, Mental Health Service, Licensing, Regulatory and Special Health Services, and School Health Services. As of 1996, public health services were provided under the County's Health and Human Services Agency and consisted of six departments: Administration; Adult Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; Aging and Disability Services; Children, Youth and Family Services; Crisis Income and Victim Services; and Public Health Services.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings were performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder. Photographs originally located in this record group have been transferred to Record Group 19: Audiovisual Materials.

PROVENANCE

N/A

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the Department of Health span the years 1884 to 1981. The bulk of the materials date from 1932 to 1970. These records document the Department's activities and accomplishments as well as internal administrative matters. The collection is arranged as eight series:

Series I: Records of the Health Officer

Series II: Advisory Health Committee; Medical Care Commission

Series III: Mental Health Service

Series IV: Montgomery County Health Center

Series V: Public Health Lay Council

Series VI: School Health Council

Series VII: Scrapbooks

Series VIII Printed Materials

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I: Records of the Health Officer, 1884-1973 (1 cu.ft)

This series consists of records documenting the administration of the Department of Health. Of particular importance are the folders entitled "General Correspondence," and "Hospitals/Health Centers." Annual and monthly reports reflect departmental activities and accomplishments and publicize the statistics collected by the Department. Additional statistics and health data are available in records of the Department's surveys and studies. The series includes records of the Department's precursor, the Board of Health of the Olney district

Arrangement is alphabetical.

Series II: Advisory Health Committee: Medical Care Commission, 1952-1962 (1 folder)

The minutes of both the Advisory Health Committee and the Medical Care Commission reflect activities as well as administrative matters of these two bodies. Minutes address internal organizational issues such as appointment of officers, membership, and the budget. The minutes also include abstracts of reports by committee members, debates, and survey results.

Arrangement is chronological.

Series III: Mental Health Service, 1939-1964 (2 folders)

This series includes several reports, including a survey, conducted in 1953 to 1959, of Montgomery County's high school students; a survey of the County's mental health resources; and a report on the County's responsibilities for mental health. Also included are several reports relating to a County program providing care for the mentally ill.

Arrangement is alphabetical.

Series IV: Montgomery County Medical Center, 1964-1980 (0.75 c.f.)

In 1964, Montgomery County residents first broached the need for a County medical center. Although studies for the proposed Center were initiated three years later, construction of the Center's main facility did not begin until 1975. In 1979, the Center's main facility, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, opened and a second facility, a seventy-five bed psychiatric hospital, was completed in 1981.

The series is arranged alphabetically by document type.

Series V: Public Health Lay Council, 1943-1951 (3 folders)

This series consists of a 1946 published history of the Public Health Lay Council of Montgomery County, a minute book of the Poolesville Public Health Council, and issues of the Council's Quarterly Bulletin.

Arrangement is alphabetical.

Series VI: School Health Council, 1953-1972 (0.1 c.f.)

Dating primarily from the 1950s, materials within this series mainly concern services provided by the Montgomery County Health Department to the County's public school system. Services include immunizations, medical examinations, dental checkups, and health education. Document composition consists of meeting minutes, departmental memoranda, procedure/program reports, correspondence, by-laws, and one television script for a children's puppet show on dental hygiene. (See also Series VIII)

Records are arranged alphabetically by document type.

Series VII: Scrapbooks, 1941-1961 (2 cu.ft.) (9 items)

The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings relating to disease and disease prevention, to health programs elsewhere in the United States and other countries, and to the activities of County Health professionals and of the Department of Health.

The scrapbooks are arranged chronologically.

Series VIII: Printed Materials, 1934-1981 (9 items)

This series includes reports, studies, manuals, and other materials prepared for or by the County Health Department for public dissemination. Many of the reports and studies evaluate and analyze the Health Department's accomplishments and initatives. Significant topics covered by the publications include the school health program, health care services for low income children, and home health care. Organizations other than the County Health Department which authored materials are Bionetics, the Commission on Aging, John Hopkins University, and the Maryland State Department of Health.

Arrangement is alphabetical by the name of the organization creating the publication, if known, and thereafter by the title of the document.

BOX INVENTORY

Box 1

Series I: Records of the Health Officer

Correspondence, 1936-1961

Reports, Annual, 1934-1968 (4 folders)

Reports, Monthly, 1952-1963 (4 folders)

Tuberculosis Division Annual Reports 1953-4, 1958

Health Centers/Hospitals, Poolesville, Silver Spring, Montgomery General, Suburban, 1939-1960

Historic Outlines of the County, 1884-1980

Inspections/Investigations 1955-1960

Minute Book, Board of Health, Olney District, 1884-1906

Newsletters, 1964-1965

Organizational Charts, Functions, 1955-1973

Regulations: Excreta Disposal, Milk, 1935-1941

Studies

American Public Health Association,Evaluation Schedules, 1944-1950

Diseases

Diphtheria, 1957-1961

Polio, 1947-1951

Rheumatic Fever, 1955

Tuberculosis, 1949-1953

Ellicott, V.L., Md., County Health Officer, "Health Needs In Montgomery County," September 1940

General, 1957-1958

Medical Care, Safety, 1947-1961

Public Health Service

Special Studies, 1936-1938

Strokes, 1961-1964

Box 2

Series II: Advisory Health Committee and Medical Care Commission

Meeting Minutes, 1952-1962

Series III: Mental Health Service

Committee for Mental Health Planning, 1964-1965

Overview

Services and Surveys, 1939-1966

Studies and Reports

"A Citizen Looks at Mental Health Facilities, Vol. II," August 1973

"Community Mental Health Study," 1958

"Comprehensive Care of the Mentally Ill," 1962-1964

"Comprehensive Community Care for the Mentally Ill," 1966 "Development of a Multi-Agency Community Mental Health Plan: A Working Paper," by Laura Bachrach, Division of Health Planning, Research, and Education, September 1972

"Mental Health in the Suburbs: Are The Needs Met?," 1961 "Mental Health Plan for Montgomery County," 1969

"Montgomery County Health Department's Mental Health Program," , March, 1962

"Psychological Needs of Children," 1952-1953

"A Public Health Department Assumes its Responsibilities for Mental Health," 1961

"Statement to Montgomery County Council" by Colleen Woodard, Psychiatric Institutes of America, 1971

"Studies of Suicidal Gestures in the Public Schools," 1963 "Survey of Montgomery County Mental Health Resources," 1960

Series IV: Montgomery County Medical Center

General Files, 1964-1979 (4 folders)

Minutes, Executive and Staff Advisory Committees, 1974-1980

Status Reports, 1968-1980

Subject Files

Medical-Pathological Waste Incinerator, 1973-1976

Power Plant, 1970s (2 folders)

Planning and Development Studies and Reports

American Testing and Engineering Corporation, 1976

Community and Economic Development Department, ca. 1975

General, 1967-1969

Psychiatric Institute, 1974-1979 (2 folders)

Site Improvement

Gladstone Association, 1974-1976

Office of Planning and Capital Programming, 1974

Shady Grove Adventist Hospital 1974-1977

Box 3

Series V: Public Health Lay Council

Committee

Bethesda

Memoranda, 1942-1943

Olney

Financial Records, 1946-1953

Minute Book, 1947-1957

Poolesville, Minute Book, 1943-1951

Sandy Spring

Minute Book, 1944-1947

Financial Records, 1937-1947

Forms, ca. 1940

History

Share Holding in Health: The Montgomery County Public Health Lay Council, 1935-1945

Radio Scripts, 1948

Reports

Quarterly Bulletins, 1945-1948,

General, 1940-1941,

Series VI: School Health Council

Minutes, 1953-1961

General, 1953-1972

Box 4

Series VII: Scrapbooks

Scrapbooks, 1941-1961 (9 items)

Box 5

Scrapbooks, 1961-1969 (9 items)

Box 6

Series VIII Printed Materials

Bionetics

"Analysis of a Community Public Health System,"

Volume 1 and 2, 1972

Appendices, 1972

"Demographic Analysis for Community Health Planning," October 1971

Commission on Aging

"Home Health Care Services in Montgomery County," undated

Harley Ellington Associates, Inc.,"Engineering Report: Montgomery County Medical Center,"1970

Health and Welfare Council of the National Capital Area, "Voluntary Services Study," January 1965

Health Study Steering Committee, "Hospital and Clinic Study," November 1944

John Hopkins University, Department of Child Health, School of Hygiene and Public Health,"The Comprehensive Care Clinic and Health Care Services For Low Income Children: Report to Montgomery County," August 10, 1981, (2 folders)

Box 7

Maryland State Department of Health, "Report of a Health Officer

Committee on the Coordination of Preventive and Curative

Services," May 7, 1948

Montgomery County Medical Center, Engineering Report, 1970

Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council Study: Freestanding Emergency Clinics in Montgomery County," January, 1980

Montgomery County Health Department

"End Measles Sunday, Program Operations Manual," May 1967

"Fact-Finding Study," 1953

"The Health Department in Brief," February 1977

Program Development and Evaluation Office, "Evaluation of School Health Program," May 1981

"Progress in Public Health Department," 1934

School Health Services Division, [miscellaneous publications], 1984

"Statistical Report of Montgomery County Health Department Services," 1980-1981

"Summary of Programs," 1984

"Task Force Report: Minority Ad Hoc Committee's Client Survey, August 1980

Public Health Service, District No. 2, "A Survey of the Health Department of Montgomery County," 1940

Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Army Medical Service Graduate School, Major Martin Stanford Oster "An Analysis of a County Health Department," 1955