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September 2002, Vol 92, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1420
© 2002 American Public Health Association

IMAGES OF HEALTH

Public Health Service Dentist Examines an Alaska Native Child, 1951

Elizabeth Fee, Theodore M. Brown, Jan Lazarus and Paul Theerman

Elizabeth Fee, Jan Lazarus, and Paul Theerman are with the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. Theodore M. Brown is with the Departments of History and of Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Elizabeth Fee, PhD, Building 38, Room 1E21, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894 (e-mail: elizabeth_fee{at}nlm.nih.gov).


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
 INTRODUCTION
References
 

Source. Prints and Photographs Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine.

SINCE THE EARLY 19TH century, the federal government has provided health care to Native Americans, both as a treaty obligation and in its role as trustee for indigenous peoples.1 The government, however, has not always been zealous in pursuing its obligations. In Alaska, for example, not until 1931 did a single Public Health Service (PHS) officer provide health care, and then only for a few years. Alaska did take on special significance during the Cold War, when the Inuit people were characterized as "the first line of defense" in protecting the territory.2 Not only did the PHS now provide personal health services, it also strengthened Alaska’s entire health program by operating mobile health units—via ship, rail, and highway—across sparsely populated areas. The PHS provided grants-in-aid to support the development of public health services and funded research programs to investigate special health needs under Arctic conditions. The PHS field center in Alaska, renamed the Arctic Health Research Center, conducted research on animal-borne diseases, environmental sanitation, entomology and insect control, biochemistry and nutrition, physiology, bacteriology, parasitology, and new and improved methods of DDT spraying.


   Footnotes
 
Note. Most of the Prints and Photographs Collection of the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine may be viewed through the on-line database "Images From the History of Medicine" at http://wwwihm.nlm.nih.gov/. The Web site also provides information on ordering reproductions of images. If you have a print, photograph, or other visual item that might be appropriate for this collection, please contact the History of Medicine Division.


   References
TOP
 INTRODUCTION
 References
 
1. Kunitz SJ. The history and politics of US health care policy for American Indians and Alaskan Natives. Am J Public Health.1996;86:1464–1473.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

2. Williams RC. The United States Public Health Service, 1798–1950. Washington, DC: Commissioned Officers Association of the United States Public Health Service; 1951:788–789.





This Article
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Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
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Right arrow Get other permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fee, E.
Right arrow Articles by Theerman, P.
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Right arrow Articles by Fee, E.
Right arrow Articles by Theerman, P.
Related Collections
Right arrow Health Care Facilities/Services
Right arrow History
Right arrow Native Americans
Right arrow Government

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