Research Guides: Exhibit Guide: The Legacy of Public Health in Our Region: Featured Collections

Images from the Exhibit

The Mecklenburg County Health Department records include photographs of public health workers and people in the communities they served from the early Twentieth century through the 1980s.

Public health nurse Nellie McKenzie with mother and baby, box 6, folder 2, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

Nurse going to Louise Mill to make report and get calls from Superintendent, box 6, folder 2, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

"Miss Alice Grier, PH Nurse", box 6, folder 2, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

Public health nurses Alice Grier and Birdie Moore inspecting midwife's equipment, box 6, folder 2, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

Documents from the Health Department Minute Books

The meeting minutes of the city and county health departments cover decisions made by the boards of the organizations, including those made during the influenza epidemic of 1918 and polio epidemics that affected the region in 1944 and 1948.

Mecklenburg County Board of Health minute book, vol. 2, p. 9 [1918], box 2, folder 7, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

Charlotte Board of Health minute book, vol. 1, p. 25 1944], box 2, folder 6, Mecklenburg County Health Department Records 1915-1984, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

Collections Featured in the Exhibit

Mecklenburg County Health Department Records
The Mecklenburg County Health Department works to promote and protect the public's health. The collection includes annual reports, minutes, and photographs of department staff and clientele dating from 1915 - 1984.
The Health Department was organized in 1917 and Dr. C. C. Hudson was hired as the first health officer. In addition to a staff of four full-time and two part-time people, the Red Cross sent a unit of five nurses to assist in the Department's work. During the 1920s, the city and county departments were consolidated. In 1973, the North Carolina General Assembly transferred all duties and responsibilities of a local policy Board of Health to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners.
Annie L. Alexander Papers
Annie Alexander was born in Mecklenburg County, NC in 1864 and graduated from Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia in 1884. She returned to North Carolina in 1887 as the first woman to practice medicine in the South. The collection includes letters she wrote to her father, Dr. John Brevard Alexander, while a student and intern at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia (1884-85); patient records; financial accounts; essays on medical topics; and newspaper clippings.
Joseph B. Mathews Papers
The author of the letters, Joseph B. Mathews, a private from Massachusetts, worked in the base hospital. His letters, written to his girlfriend, Eva La Flamme in Massachusetts, provide insight into the operation of an early-twentieth century military medical facility. Letters of historical interest include those in which Mathews wrote about the quarantine of the base personnel and the citizens of Charlotte during the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Thereasea D. Elder Papers
Thereasa Delerine (T.D.) Elder is active in community nursing, church work, and the Charlotte African American community, particularly in efforts to preserve Charlotte's African American history. Materials document the importance of African Americans in politics and community, the value of a healthy and safe neighborhood, and access of education and employment. From 1962-1989, Mrs. Elder was a public health nurse with the Mecklenburg County Health Department, and was the first to integrate the public health nursing service in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
Camp Greene Base Hospital Photographs
The collection consists of two circuit photographs of Camp Greene's Base Hospital, in 1917; photographed by THE MOONS Commercial and Home Photographers, of Charlotte, NC.