Lucius Polk Brown was a professional chemist who became a
bureaucrat in the field of public health during the Progressive
era, when middle-class reformers first attempted to order American
society through integrated systems. In his native state of
Tennessee, between 1908 and 1915 Brown created a public health
enforcement agency, began educating the masses to public health
needs, waged flamboyant campaigns against those who violated the
laws, and attracted widespread support for pure food and drug
control. Moving on to become director of the Bureau of Food and
Drugs in the New York City Department of Health in 1915, he
continued his battle for public health reform amidst the maze of
government agencies and political power struggles surrounding
Tammany Hall. In Many respects Brown was typical of Progressive
reformers. A middle-class, Anglo-Saxon Protestant and a
professional, he represented a link between the nineteenth-century
agrarian and the twentieth-century urbanite. More importantly,
Brown exemplified a new character on the American scene: a
scientist out of the agricultural-experiment-station mold entering
public life, ready to challenge politicians on their own ground.
This book contains fresh insights on the history of the public
health movement in America, one area of reform that has not
received the attention it deserves. Except for incidental
references, the major figures of food and drug regulation at the
local level have been largely ignored by historians. Lucius Polk
Brown's quest for pure food and drugs is representative of what
municipal and state officials, as scientific people, encountered
when they fought for the passage of new laws, struggled to enforce
existing ones, and battled with the politicians, quacks, ignorance
that threatened their efforts. Brown's diversified career provides
a unique opportunity for studying a scientific reformer caught up
in the political turmoil of the Progressive era. His experience in
government service spanned twelve years and touched on two
dissimilar political systems. In focusing on Brown's struggles,
achievements, and failures, Margaret Ripley Wolfe provides a
comparative study of state and municipal health administrations, of
bureaucratic development in a rural southern state and a northern
metropolis. For that reason this book should be of interest to
political scientists and public health officials as well as to
social historians and students of the Progressive era.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
