Malaria Control in Tennessee, 1930-1940

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About this Exhibit

America in the 1930s is best remembered for the Great Depression, a time when poverty and unemployment skyrocketed. Somber images of demoralized men standing in long lines outside of food banks, or pictures of worn-out barns barely standing upright against a rural backdrop might come to mind. Millions of Americans had their lives upended by this economic crisis. To fight the Depression and bring widespread, multifaceted poverty relief to Americans, the Roosevelt administration enacted The New Deal in 1933. The New Deal consisted of multiple social and economic reforms, one of which was the Tennessee Valley Authority, or the TVA. The TVA was created to modernize the rural South by bringing hydroelectric power to the region. This would involve the construction of multiple dams along the Tennessee River, in turn creating thousands of jobs. The TVA has a lesser-known project, though; it spearheaded malaria control projects. Malaria was endemic in the South in the 1920s and 1930s, but by the early 1940s, malaria rates had declined drastically in the Tennessee Valley region. The TVA effectively brought the eradication of malaria in the South by the 1950s.This virtual exhibit will explore the details of the TVA’s malaria control activities, including leadership, methods, and public health reports.

Public Health Nurse’s Bag

Date ca. 1945

Description

Public health nurses were key figures in the fight against malaria. Nurses administered malaria tests to the public. To test for malaria, a nurse was trained to stab a patient’s finger with a needle to draw blood, wipe one drop of blood off the finger, and squeeze two drops of blood on the slide. The slide would then be examined in a laboratory for evidence of malaria infection. These materials were lightweight and easy to carry in a nurse’s bag for house visits.

Source Medical Artifacts Collection, History of Medicine Collections, Vanderbilt University Libraries