Health in the City: Race, Poverty, and the Negotiation of Women’s Health in New York City, 1915–1930 (Culture, Labor, History, 9)

Shortly after the dawn of the twentieth century, the New York City Department of Health decided to address what it perceived as the racial nature of health. It delivered heavily racialized care in different neighborhoods throughout the city: syphillis treatment among African Americans, tuberculosis for Italian Americans, and so on. It was a challenging and ambitious program, dangerous for the providers, and troublingly reductive for the patients. Nevertheless, poor and working-class African American, British West Indian, and Southern Italian women all received some of the nation’s best health care during this period. Health in the City challenges traditional ideas of early twentieth-century urban black health care by showing a program that was simultaneously racialized and cutting-edge. It reveals that even the most well-meaning public health programs may inadvertently reinforce perceptions of inferiority that they were created to fix. Health In The City Challenges Traditional Ideas Of Early Twentieth-century Urban Black Health Care By Showing A Program That Was Simultaneously Racialized And Cutting-edge. It Reveals That Even The Most Well-meaning Public Health Programs May Inadvertently Reinforce The Perceptions Of Inferiority That They Were Created To Fix--page [4] Of Cover. Migration And The City -- Professionalization In The City -- Work In The City -- Culture In The City -- Birthing In The City : Columbus Hill -- Health In Columbus Hill -- Birthing In The City : The Mulberry District -- Health In The Mulberry District. Tanya Hart. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 291-313) And Index. Shortly after the dawn of the 20th century, the New York City Department of Health decided to address what it perceived as the racial nature of health. It delivered heavily racialised care in different neighbourhoods throughout the city: syphillis treatment for African Americans, tuberculosis for Italian Americans, and so on. 'Health in the City' challenges traditional ideas of early 20th-century urban black health care by showing a program that was simultaneously racialised and cutting edge. It reveals that even the most well-meaning public health programs may inadvertently reinforce perceptions of inferiority that they were created to fix ""At the turn of the twentieth century, black and white women migrated to New York City, a new place and environment swirling with ideas and practices of race, racism, germ theory and sanitation. Health in the City tells us the very human story of how pioneering, yet racialized health care thinking and services complicated the meaning of these women's motherhood as well as their own health and welfare. Hart's discovery and analysis of previously untapped archival records, offers an important narrative and reveals a remarkable mastery of historical methods that are a model of interdisciplinary