HEALTH DEPARTMENT:

An Inventory of Its Reports and Miscellaneous Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.


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Creator: Minnesota. Department of Health.
Title:Reports and Miscellaneous Records.
Dates:1872-2018.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Records and reports documenting the activities and duties of the department. The records include field investigation and inspection reports concerning communicable diseases (particularly smallpox), water supply and sewage systems, and slaughterhouses; delinquent birth and death reports; mortality and morbidity statistics; various weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports of divisions; University of Minnesota housing (1916) survey; reports to legislative committees (1923, 1944); correspondence and other papers of Charles N. Hewitt, Henry M. Bracken, and A. J. Chesley; minutes of and other records relating to the Minnesota State Sanitary Conference (re-established in 1947 as the Minnesota Public Health Conference); materials relating to the Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities, American Medical Association, American Heart Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officers, and International Health Board; budgets; quarantine posters; circulars and reporting forms; organizational charts; and commendations and awards.
Quantity:17.85 cubic feet (17 boxes and 2 partial boxes).
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

Subjects covered include public health nursing; maternal and child health; garbage collection; activities of local boards of health and health officers; the history and organization of the department; health hazards of tetraethyl lead in motor fuel (1925-1928); leprosy; school health; the Red Cross; malaria; and the Ohio and Mississippi Valley flood of 1937.


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

Some of these records include private information about individuals. Records with private information are closed for 75 years from date of last entry in the record. The restricted records are noted in the finding aid. Researchers must apply for permission to use these records. Please consult library staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Department of Health. Reports and Miscellaneous Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 980-7; 980-17; 980-28; 981-115; 981-123; 982-151; 2001-26; 2017-30; 2019-58

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001710387


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Location
127.K.9.6F Reports on Investigations by Professor F. H. Bass, 1906-1919. 7 volumes:
Engineering Division reports on investigations of existing or proposed sewage disposal systems, water treatment plants, slaughterhouses, water supply systems, especially for schools and local governments. Includes sanitary inspections of state institutions; includes some photos and drawings.
1906-1919. 2 volumes.
1911-1914. 5 volumes.
Location
127.K.9.7B Division of Preventable Diseases Field Investigations, 1921-1940. 1921-1940. 11 volumes:
RESTRICTED.
Investigations of reports of serious communicable disease outbreaks, especially diphtheria, encephalitis, leprosy, measles, meningitis, paratyphoid, polio, scarlet fever, smallpox, chicken pox, trachoma, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis. Contains a list of cases, followed by narrative reports in case number order. Includes data on individual cases.
1921-1930. 10 volumes.
1933-1940. 1 volume.
Location
127.K.9.8F Division of Preventable Diseases Annual Reports, 1937-1941. 1 volume.
Primarily lists of cases, statistics on cases, and narrative summaries.
Papers by H. M. Bracken, Executive Officer, 1897-1919. 4 volumes.
Miscellaneous Minutes and Reports. 1 volume:
Tuberculosis Committee Minutes, July 10, 1913.
Report of Committee on Public Health of the Minnesota State Planning Board, 1934.
Agenda for 27th Meeting of Minnesota State Planning Board, October 2, [1923?].
Birth Certification Process in the Division of Vital Statistics: Survey Report of the Division of Administrative Management and Research, April 1942.
Venereal Disease Division Weekly and Monthly Reports, 1920-1930. 1 volume.
Contains case statistics, numbers of pamphlets distributed, but no individual case data.
Morbidity Report, 1941-1944. 1 volume.
Tables for deaths classified by disease and county, and disease by date; lists of polio cases.
Location
127.K.9.9BSummaries of Epidemiological Investigations, 1937-1943. 2 volumes.
RESTRICTED.
Lists of Rural Health Unit cases, followed by narrative summaries. Similar to the field investigations listed above.
Nurses' Narrative Reports, 1942-1945. 2 volumes.
RESTRICTED.
Field Advisory Nurses' Report of Nursing Service, by county. Possibly a continuation of Public Health Nurses' Reports, 1936-1941 (listed with separate series, Quarterly Reports and Minutes of Hearings).
Division of Child Hygiene Quarterly Reports, 1922-1928. 1 volume.
Other reports are listed with the separate series, Quarterly Reports and Minutes of Hearings.
Division of Child Hygiene Weekly and Monthly Reports of Indian Nurses, 1924-1932. 1 volume.
Location
127.K.9.10FState Health Officers' Circular Letters, Nos. 1-92, 1936-1944. 1 volume.
From the U.S. Public Health service; indexed.
Miscellaneous Correspondence with Children's Bureau, Child Hygiene Division (U.S. Department of Labor), 1921-1924. 1 volume.
Includes some material relating to maternal and child health programs.
Dr. Hoag's Memoranda: The Minnesota Campaign for School Hygiene, 1912-1913. 1 volume.
United States Public Health Service: Rules and Regulations, 1938-1942. 1 volume.
Report to the House of Representatives' Interim Committee on State Administration, 1944. 1 volume.
Birth and Death Records and Vital Statistics Division Vital Statistics Reports, 1939-1942. 1 volume.
Quarterly reports and a summary of needs for the 1941-1943 biennium.
Garbage Collection Surveys, Statistics, and Correspondence, 1935. 1 volume.
Returns of municipal garbage collection and disposal questionnaires; and tabulations therefrom. Also transmittal correspondence and copies of municipal ordinances, as requested in the questionnaire.
Miscellaneous Reports, Statistics, and Correspondence, 1924. 1 volume.
Location
127.K.9.11BSewage Disposal Reports, 1900-1908. 1 volume.
Reports of field trips by H. M. Bracken.
Inspection Reports of George L. Wilson, and Other Inspection Reports, 1901. 1 volume.
Includes data relating to water supply and sewage systems and problems.
Inspection Reports of O. C. Pierson, 1901-1936. 1 volume.
Relating to a variety of problems, including disease, sanitation, and delinquent birth and death reports.
Miscellaneous Inspection Reports, 1901-1911. 1 volume.
Reports of Rochester Health Office, Dr. H. B. Wood, 1912-1913. 1 volume.
Epidemiology Division Reports of Disease Distribution, Dr. A. J. Chesley, 1912-1913. 1 volume.
Reports of F. E. Tydeman on Investigations of Delinquent Births and Deaths (and Other Matters), 1912-1913. 1 volume.
Inspection Report of University Housing, Sanitary Survey of Academic Fraternities, 1916. 1 volume.
By H. M. Bracken.
Reports by Dr. Charles E. Smith, Including Inspection of Tuberculosis Sanatoria and Control in the East, 1917-1919. 1 volume.
Vital Statistics Investigations, Reports by C. W. Feezer, 1917-1919. 1 volume.
Nutritionists' Field Reports, 1944. 1 volume.
RESTRICTED.
From the Child Hygiene Division.
Scarlet Fever and Smallpox Reports, 1903-1910. 1 volume and 1 folder.
The volume contains investigators' field reports. The folder contains reports to the Board of Health by physicians and others.
Location
127.K.9.12FDiphtheria Field Investigation Reports, 1900-1907. 1 volume.
Narrative reports by Board of Health physicians on visits to various communities and state institutions to investigate diphtheria conditions and make recommendations for control and treatment.
Diphtheria Reports, 1907-1909. 3 folders.
Reports to the Board of Health by local physicians. They list patients’ names, city or township of residence, age, source of infection, date of first symptoms, date of first laboratory examination, amount of antitoxin used, and attending physician.
Weekly Smallpox Summaries, January-April 1902.
Statistics on numbers of cases and of deaths in each affected city or township; arranged by county.
Smallpox Inspection Reports, 1900-1907. 1 volume.
Narrative reports by Board of Health physicians on visits to various communities and state institutions to investigate smallpox conditions and make recommendations for control and treatment.
Smallpox Death Certificates (copies), 1917-1935. 1 volume.
Location
126.B.14.7BMiscellaneous Historical:
Association of State and Territorial Health Officers - Historical Data, 1939-1968. 1 volume.
Historical Pictures and Memos, 1939-1972.
Includes other miscellaneous material.
Clean Up Letters, 1940-1969.
Copies of announcements of annual sanitary inspection tours required of municipal health officers by Health Department regulations; usually accompanied by recommendation for local clean up week.
Receipts for State Board of Health Badges Issued, 1913.
Certifications of Publication of Regulations, 1915-1940.
Certifications made by the secretary and executive officer of the State Board of Health as to the accuracy of publication in legal newspapers of certain Board of Health regulations. Each apparently prepared for a special purpose (a note on one reads: gotten up for City Attorney, Hibbing) some time after the actual dates of adoption and publication of the regulations.
Location
126.B.14.10FBiennial Budget, 1937-1939. 1 volume.
Location
126.B.14.11BMiscellaneous Records:
Report of Public Health Personnel, Facilities, and Services, Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1948.
Report [of the Health Department] to House Interim Committee Investigating State Departments, October 6, 1923. 1 volume.
Minnesota Self-Survey Task Force Records, 1955-1960. 2 volumes.
Work manuals and reports prepared by the Health Department task force during the initial survey, 1955-1956, and a subsequent follow-up survey, 1958-1960.
Advisory Boards and Committees; Staff Memberships, January 13, 1970. 1 volume.
Compilation of membership of all boards and committees advisory to the State Board of Health; and a list of the offices or appointments held by the department's staff in professional organizations or other agencies.
Annual Budget Funding Proposals, 1971. 1 volume.
Location
111.D.17.10FOrganizational Charts, 1946-2002.
Organizational Charts: Drinking Water Protection Section, 1990-2018.
The Drinking Water Protection Section is under the Environmental Health Division. Formerly known as the Water Supply and Well Management Section.
Location
126.B.14.12FA. J. Chesley Files:
Ethyl Gas Committee, 1925-1928. 2 folders.
Correspondence and other materials relating to Albert J. Chesley's service on a committee appointed by the U.S. Surgeon General to investigate the health hazards connected with tetraethyl lead in motor fuel.
Correspondence, 1943-1944.
Primarily February-March 1944, relating to Chesley's membership in the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (and its Maternal and Child Health Committee ) and the Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities (Chesley appears to have been conference secretary). Much concerns federal legislation. Correspondents often expressed opinions regarding health programs, both in Minnesota and elsewhere.
Correspondence, 1942-1943.
Regarding Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities.
Correspondence, Montana Tuberculosis Association, 1946-1947.
Chesley spoke at the 1947 meeting and seems to have had some personal friends among the membership. Many personal letters to Chesley, especially from Corinna, who wrote from New York City and during a trip to the Middle East.
Correspondence, Minnesota State Sanitary Conference, 1945-1947.
Correspondence, Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities, 1943.
Correspondence, Tuberculosis Facilities Commission, 1952-1955. 2 folders.
RESTRICTED.
Includes some individual case details.
Miscellaneous Records:
H. M. Bracken, Fifty Years of Public Health Work in Minnesota, 1972-1922, circa 1937. 1 volume.
Minnesota State Sanitary Conference, 1947-1950. 1 volume.
Minutes and related records (volume labeled 1947-1948). In January 1947, by constitutional change, the old organization dissolved and re-created itself as the Minnesota Public Health Conference.
World War II Biographies Scrapbook, circa 1947. 1 volume.
Contains biographies and photos of Health Department staff who were in military service during the war. Prepared by Health Department staff and presented to A. J. Chesley.
Miscellaneous Material, 1940s. 1 volume.
Organizing principle not apparent.
Location
126.B.14.13BCharles N. Hewitt Files:
Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers, undated and 1872-1910. 2 folders.
Includes a report of the Committee on Surgery of the Minnesota State Medical Society (1872); correspondence relating to smallpox outbreaks in Minneapolis, Stearns County, and Houston County (1881-1883); English public health forms; a speech about the duty of physicians to public health (1896); and mortality statistics in Minnesota (1890s).
Leprosy File, undated and 1883-1884. 2 folders.
Correspondence with and report by Dr. Chr[istian?] Grönvold of Norway, Minnesota, on leprosy in Minnesota and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).
Diaries of Laboratory Work, 1884-1886.
Correspondence, 1874.
Relating to inspections of the Faribault Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, and of the State Reform School.
Correspondence with Department of Public Instruction, 1876.
Regarding the possibility of the State Board of Health issuing one or more "tracts" for the purpose of improving the sanitary condition of schools.
A. J. Chesley Files:
Papers by A. J. Chesley, 1920s-1930s. 1 volume.
Correspondence, 1911-1955.
Concerning investigations of the Rochester City Health officer's conduct with respect to a case of smallpox (1911); Minnesota Sanitary Conference program (1934-1935); the career of Dr. Hibbert W. Hill (1948); osteopaths (1950-1951); and a model poultry ordinance (1955).
Correspondence and Clippings regarding Dr. Christopher Graham, 1948-1952.
H. M. Bracken Speech, 1912.
Typescript of speech at National Meat Packers Association, January 16, 1912, on Federal and State Inspection of Meat and Dairy Products.
Typhoid and Diphtheria Follow-Up System [Procedures Manual], circa 1912.
Epidemiology Division Inspection Reports, 1913.
Reports of investigations by Health Department investigators of suspected or rumored cases of infectious diseases.
H. M. Bracken: Papers, Reports, and Memoranda, 1908-1915.
State Board of Health Correspondence with Local Boards of Health, 1911. 2 folders.
Correspondence primarily of H. W. Hill, director of the Epidemiology Division, and A. J. Chesley, epidemiologist, relating to reports of infectious diseases, especially smallpox; and to the conduct and duties of local health officers.
Correspondence Relating to County Health Units, 1920-1922.
Correspondence (1920) of L. W. Feezer, educational agent, with the International Health Board (New York City). Also includes a copy of one letter (1922) from A. J. Chesley to the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension (Philadelphia) regarding rural health work in Minnesota.
State Health Officers [Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities]: Red Cross File, 1918-1921.
Correspondence of C. St. Clair Drake (head of the Illinois Department of Public Health) as secretary of the conference. Concerns the relationship of the Red Cross with state departments of health and with other organizations, especially tuberculosis associations.
Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities: Interstate Quarantine Regulations, 1938-1939.
Correspondence and other materials assembled by A. J. Chesley in his capacity as secretary of the conference.
Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities: National Health Council and State Health Councils, 1922-1923, 1949-1950.
File maintained by officers of the conference; for 1922-1923, appears to have been the secretary-treasurer, Dr. R. M. Olin, Michigan Department of Health.
Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities: Local Health Units, 1943-1947.
Correspondence, reports, and other materials, apparently assembled by A. J. Chesley as secretary of the conference, relating to the conference's efforts to encourage establishment of local health units in the states.
Location
126.B.14.14FReports of the Division of Engineering for the Two Years Ended August 1, 1912. 1 volume.
Report on Special Investigation of Smallpox in Minneapolis and St. Paul, 1924-1925. 1 volume.
A. J. Chesley: Record of Memorial Fund, 1955-1956. 1 volume.
Includes letters, memorial articles, biographical sketches, memorial fund donor lists, and other materials relating to the death of Chesley in October 1955, and of his wife, Placida Gardner Chesley, in 1966.
Executive Matters, 1901-1909. 1 volume.
Reports of Dr. H. M. Bracken regarding Board of Health investigation trips and attendance at various conferences.
Quarterly Reports and Miscellaneous Records, 1884-1903. 2 folders.
Financial Statements, 1884-1903.
A. J. Chesley: American Heart Association, 1926-1932. 2 folders.
Includes materials assembled by Chesley in preparation for a paper (also included) on heart disease given at the American Health Congress, May 1926 (Atlantic City); bulletins of the American Heart Association; and Chesley's correspondence with the association and with others relating to heart diseases.
Smallpox, 1900s-1930s.
Primarily published articles and pamphlets, and statistical charts relating to vaccinations and deaths from communicable diseases.
Location
111.D.17.4FAmerican Medical Association Communications [AMA]:
All may include some items of actual correspondence as well as circulars.
News Releases, 1948-1949. 1 volume.
Bulletins, Comments, and Other Communications, 1948-1952. 2 volumes.
Special Bulletins, Comments, 1950-1952. 1 volume.
Capital Clinic, 1950-1952. 1 volume.
Washington Letter, 1954. 1 volume.
Includes some Special Reports, 1953-1954.
Surgeon General's Conf., State and Territorial, 1936. 1 volume.
Includes some items obviously relating to the Surgeon General's Annual Conference with State and Territorial Health Officers, but the bulk of the material is copies of Health Department correspondence, reports, and miscellaneous records. May possibly be material brought together to use in compiling annual reports or to bring to the conference.
Association of State and Territorial Health Officers: Health Officers Newsletters, 1948-1949. 1 volume.
Includes other materials of or relating to the association. Also includes some Minnesota Health Department statistical reports and publications.
Location
111.D.17.5BConference of State and Provincial Health Authorities of North America:
Correspondence, 1928-1919. 1 volume.
Mimeographed Material Sent to State and Provincial Health Officers, 1932. 1 volume.
Primarily correspondence, although it includes some mimeographed material.
Correspondence, 1932-1934. 1 volume.
Labeled 1932-1933.
Material for Proceedings, 1940. 1 volume.
Correspondence Regarding Proceedings, 1941-1943. 1 volume.
State & Prov., A.J.C., circa 1932-1942. 1 volume.
A. J. C.'s Notes [for Proceedings?], 1941. 1 volume.
National Advisory Committee to the Selective Service System, 1950-1953. 1 volume.
Local Health Units for the Nation, 1945. 1 volume.
A collection of articles and excerpts relating to the work of the Subcommittee on Local Health Units of the Committee on Administrative Practice of the American Public Health Association. Compiled by Health Department library for A. J. Chesley from a bibliography supplied by the A.P.H.A. subcommittee.
Location
111.D.17.6FPlanning Board [Reports; and other Reports and Correspondence Relating to Public Health Nursing], 1934-1935. 1 volume.
Budgets and/or Background Material:
1936-1937.
1937.
Labeled 1931.
1939.
1940.
1945.
1946-1947.
Miscellaneous Material: Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Civil Works Administration, 1930s. 1 volume.
Location
111.D.17.7BReport to I.H.B. [International Health Board?], circa 1925-1926. 1 volume.
The report is a combination of answers to a form questionnaire and longer narrative descriptions, some possibly taken from annual reports. Contains much information regarding the history and operation of the department and its divisions.
[Health Department Comments on Education Department Junior and Senior High School Health Education Courses], 1945. 1 volume.
Newspaper Clippings Regarding Hotel Inspection Shortage, 1929. 1 volume.
[Miscellaneous--Budget Background?], 1938-1939. 1 volume.
Report on Malaria Survey along the Upper Mississippi River (between Alton, Ill., and St. Paul), 1942. 1 volume.
Authorized by the Board of State Health Commissioners, Upper Mississippi River Basin.
Report of the American Academy of Pediatrics Study of Child Health Services in Minnesota, 1951. 1 volume.
[Materials Relating to Illinois Health Department Work During Ohio and Mississippi Valley Flood], 1937. 1 volume.
Division of Public Health Nursing Form Letters, 1945. 1 volume.
[Miscellaneous?], circa 1930-1933. 2 volumes.
Mortality and Morbidity Statistics on Communicable Diseases, 1918-1933. 2 volumes.
Reprints Regarding State Board of Health, Public Health, Laboratory Methods, and Transportation of the Dead, circa 1870s-1930s. 1 volume.
Location
126.E.3.5Records of Lepers in Minnesota:
Information on each case varies, but may include name, sex, nationality, birth date, date of appearance of disease, date of landing in America, date of coming to Minnesota, date of death, form of disease, bodily condition, pecuniary condition, residence, children, leprous relations.
Lepers Who Died Before December 31, 1890. 1 item.
With 17 names and data about cases.
Lepers since December 31, 1890. 3 items.
With 92 names and data about cases.
Living Lepers in Minnesota, March 11, 1918. 2 items.
Living Lepers in Minnesota, circa 1905. 2 items.
Posters, Circulars, and Reporting Forms, undated and 1890s-1940s. 2 folders.
Includes quarantine warnings for pneumonia, diphtheria, typhoid fever, cerebrospinal meningitis, influenza, tuberculosis, erysipelas, poliomyelitis, scarlet fever, encephalitis, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, and smallpox.
Certificates of Commendation awarded to the Minnesota Department of Health, 1995, 1997. 4 items in 1 folder:
For partnership efforts in the Governor’s Television and Radio Commission on Alcohol Abuse Education project, May 3, 1995.
For partnership efforts with the AMC/DHS/MDH [Association of Minnesota Counties / Department of Human Services / Minnesota Department of Health] Partnership on Health Care, April 30, 1997.
For partnership efforts with the State Agency Hazardous Material Coordination Group, April 30, 1997.
For partnership efforts with the Telecommunications Collaboration Project, April 30, 1997.
Photocopies of Plaques Received by the Minnesota Department of Health, 1995. 3 items in 1 folder.
Received from the Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners for outstanding support, 1995.
Received from the Mankato Area Council for Quality for excellent service to the citizens of the greater Mankato area, October 1995.
The Jim Parker Memorial Award, received from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Association of State and Territorial Local Health Liaison Officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials for outstanding collaboration between state and local health departments, October 30, 1995.

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:
Children -- Health and hygiene -- Minnesota.
Communicable diseases -- Minnesota.
Health boards -- Minnesota.
Health officers -- Minnesota.
Leprosy -- Minnesota.
Malaria -- Minnesota.
Maternal health services -- Minnesota.
Mortality -- Minnesota.
Public health nursing -- Minnesota.
Refuse and refuse disposal -- Minnesota.
School hygiene -- Minnesota.
Sewage disposal -- Minnesota.
Slaughtering and slaughter-houses -- Minnesota.
Smallpox -- Minnesota.
Water-supply -- Minnesota.
Persons:
Bracken, H. M. (Henry Martyn), 1854-1938.
Chesley, A. J. (Albert Justus), 1877-1955.
Hewitt, Charles N. (Charles Nathaniel), 1835-1910.
Organizations:
American Heart Association.
American Medical Association.
American National Red Cross.
Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.
Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities of North America.
Minnesota Public Health Conference.
Minnesota State Sanitary Conference.
Rockefeller Foundation. International Health Board.
University of Minnesota -- Student housing.
Places:
Minnesota -- Statistics, Medical.
Minnesota -- Statistics, Vital.
Mississippi River -- Flood, 1937.
Ohio River -- Flood, 1937.
Document Types:
Organizational charts.
Posters.

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