Read about John Hurty and the wider scope of eugenics in Indiana in our September 2010 issue. #Indiana #PublicHealth #eugenics #sterilization #Skystorians #IUScholarWorks

The booklet also offered judgment on who should and who should not reproduce: "Those possessing inherited, and hence transmissible physical and mental defects, should never become parents." Under the 1907 state law, across several decades, at least 2,500 people were involuntarily sterilized.

Hurty, for 26 years the secretary of the state Board of Health, reformed public health in Indiana in the early 20th century; he was also an influential proponent of eugenic theory. Among the board's many publications was The Indiana Mothers' Baby Book, which offered tips on baby care.

In "Indiana's Public Health Pioneer and History's Iron Pen," Burek Pierce examines Hurty's innovations in public health as well as his advocacy for eugenic principles and practices. #IUScholarWorks #PublicHealth #Indiana #eugenics #sterilization #Skystorians

Nearly a decade before the federal 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, Hurty had put into place regulations to improve the quality of food, water, and drugs in the state of Indiana. Read more about Hurty's work in public health in Jennifer Burek Pierce's article in our September 2010 issue.

Read William G. Eidson's "Confusion, Controversy, and Quarantine" in our December 1990 issue. #IUScholarWorks #vaccines #PublicHealth #Muncie #Indiana #Skystorians

150 Muncie citizens contracted smallpox during the epidemic of 1893; 22 died. Nearly half the population was vaccinated; infected citizens were cared for in two hastily constructed quarantine hospitals. On November 4, 1893, the quarantine was lifted.

We're glad we could feature a review of your book, Sara. Thanks for the recommendations for more readings!

Ten thousand of the 22,000 citizens in Muncie were eventually vaccinated. 150 people contracted smallpox; 22 died. Read William Eidson's "Confusion, Controversy, and Quarantine" in our December 1990 issue. #IUScholarWorks #epidemics #vaccination #Muncie #smallpox

When the local schools required every child to be vaccinated in order to attend class, the local Anti-Vaccination Society filed a legal complaint. Newspapers were filled with ads for "cures," such as drinking a quart of water in which a spoonful of cream of tartar had been dissolved.

Other local doctors questioned the diagnosis. Many of the infected families, and their neighbors, defied the quarantine, going in and out of each other's houses by the back door to avoid the guards at the front. Some families threw infected bedding into neighbors' yards.

Find out more in "Confusion, Controversy, and Quarantine: The Muncie Smallpox Epidemic of 1893" by William Eidson, in our December 1990 issue, available online through IU ScholarWorks. #vaccines #smallpox #Muncie #ProjectMuse #IUScholarWorks

Skepticism and impatience soon took over, with other local doctors challenging Johnson's diagnosis and affected families defying the quarantine. Muncie residents were slow to take the vaccine--and the disease continued to spread.

What Johnson found was the first case of smallpox to appear in Muncie since an epidemic in 1876. Further investigation found more children and adults in the same neighborhood with similar symptoms. City officials, after consideration, implemented a quarantine around affected homes.