Records of the Arlington County Department of Health, Collection # RG 21, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Acquisition Information
Transfered to Library from Arlington County Department of Human Services, 1988.
Processing Information
Production of this guide was made possible by grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and
the Washington Forrest Foundation.
The Arlington County Department of Health began operating in 1919 and is still functioning today as the Arlington County Department
of Human Services. In 1919, the Arlington County Department of Health was one of the first full time county departments for
health services in the nation. Unique for this type of county service, the Department received most of its funding from private
rather than public resources.
The Department of Health was organized to improve the county's state of public health by enforcing laws regulating sanitation
and disease. Over the years, the Department evolved into a social agency serving the community and enhancing the quality of
life through many local social programs. The same spirit of community service has prevailed throughout the Department's history.
Record Group 21 houses six linear feet of scattered records generated by the Arlington County Department of Health from 1928
through 1984.
This group of records is only a small portion of the department's records and covers a limited time span. Many of the items,
however, are truly noteworthy. Of particular interest is the collection of scrapbooks that were compiled for the Health Contests
of the Inter Chamber of Rural Health, 1938 1943. The scrapbooks contain miscellaneous materials which outline the achievements
of the Department for each year represented. The materials include photographs, charts, posters, pamphlets, and textual narratives.
The record group also houses additional scrapbooks, photographs, departmental annual and miscellaneous reports, surveys, and
countywide reports concerning civil defense and disaster survival. In addition, two comprehensive histories of the department
are included in the collection. Subgroup 3, Series 2 , holds ephemera such as federal and Virginia state blank birth certificates and other health forms.
RG 21 is arranged into three subgroups according to general types of materials. Subgroup 1, Scrapbooks , is organized chronologically. Because of the deteriorating nature of the original scrapbooks, the scrapbook's contents were
removed from the mounting and filed in the order they appeared in the original scrapbook. Subgroup 2 first has department annual reports organized chronologically, and then other department-wide surveys chronologically. Finally,
Subgroup 3 is organized into series by type of material: other department documents, ephemera, and photographs.
There are 507 black and white original print photographs in this record group. They can be found within scrapbooks and unmounted
in Subgroup 3, Series 3 .
Series 1: "Inter-Chamber Rural Health Conservation Contest Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce; Report of the Committee
on Public Health of the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, Virginia: Supporting Evidence,"
1938
[48 photographs]
Box 1
File 1: Population Data; County Manager System of Government,
1938
Box 1
File 2: Personnel; Community Interest and Education,
1938
File 13: Sewatge Disposal; Water and Milk Supplies,
1938
Box 1
File 14: General Sanitation,
1938
Box 1
File 15: Inspections; Physician Questionnaires; Public Health Nursing Sample Chart,
1938
Box 1
File 16: Special Activities; Unofficial Agencies,
1938
Series 2: "The Inter-Chamber Rural Health Conservation Contest Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce; Report of the Committee
on Public Health of the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, Virginia, Supporting Evidence,"
1939
[21 photographs]
Box 1
File 1: County Manager System of Government; County Board; Personnel and Expenditures; Facilities,
1939
Box 1
File 2: Life Loss Statistics; Disease Control; Laboratory Service,
1939
File 4: Maternal and Infant Hygiene; Accident Prevention,
1939
Box 2
File 5: Medical Conferences; Preschool Hygiene,
1939
Box 2
File 6: School Hygiene,
1939
Box 2
File 7: President's Birthday Celebration; Crippled Children's Clinic; Visiting Nurse Brochure; Health Care Statistics,
1939
Box 2
File 8: Organizations Concerned with Health; Plumbing Association and Plumbing Inspection,
1939
Box 2
File 9: Trash Collection; Cleanup Week; Health Meetings,
1939
Box 2
File 10: Negro Health Week; Child Health Day; Milk Ordinance,
1939
Series 3: "The Inter-Chamber Rural Health Conservation Contest Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce; Report of the Committee
on Public Health of the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, Virginia, Supporting Evidence,"
1940
[56 photographs]
Box 2
File 1: Health Department Directors and Staff; Health Committee; Visiting Nurses; Equipment,
1940
File 4: Maternity Services; Infant and Preschool Hygiene,
1940
Box 2
File 5: School Hygiene,
1940
Box 2
File 6: General Sanitation; Food and Milk Control,
1940
Box 2
File 7: Inspection of Weights and Measures; Laboratory Service; Community Interest and Education,
1940
Box 2
File 8: General Publicity; Cleanup Campaign; Negro Health Clinics; Inspections,
1940
Series 4: "The Inter-Chamber Rural Health Conservation Contest Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce; Report of the Committee
on Public Health of the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, Virginia, Supporting Evidence,"
1941
[52 photographs]
Box 2
File 1: Index; Management and Staff,
1941
Box 2
File 2: Statistics and Records; Community Health Education,
1941
Box 2
File 3: Clippings - Health Education, Activities,
1941
Box 2
File 4: Acute Communicable Disease Control,
1941
Box 2
File 5: Maternal Hygiene; Pre-Natal; Public Health Nurses; Well Nursing; Well Baby Conference,
1941
Box 2
File 6: Preschool Hygiene; School Hygiene,
1941
Box 2
File 7: Adult Hygiene; General Sanitation,
1941
Box 2
File 8: Food and Milk Control,
1941
Box 2
File 9: Inspection of Food Establishments,
1941
Box 2
File 10: Inspections at Army Contonment [sic],
1941
Box 2
File 11: Support for Local Health Work; Special Activities; Cleanup Week; National Negro Health Week; First Aid Instruction; Infant
Care,
1941
Series 5: "The Inter-Chamber Rural Health Conservation Contest Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce and the American Public
Health Association; Report of Activities During 1942 by the Committee on Public Health and Safety of the Arlington County
Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, Virginia, Supporting Evidence,"
1942
[68 photographs]
Box 3
File 1: Index; Basic Data and Community Services,
1942
File 3: Tuberculosis Control; Syphilis and Gonorrhea Control,
1942
Box 3
File 4: Maternal Health; Infant Health,
1942
Box 3
File 5: Preschool Health; School Health,
1942
Box 3
File 6: General Sanitation,
1942
Box 3
File 7: Food Control,
1942
Box 3
File 8: Milk Control; Garbage Disposal,
1942
Box 3
File 9: Housing; War Department Building,
1942
Box 3
File 10: Weights and Measures; Negro Health Week,
1942
Box 3
File 11: Hospital Plans; General Publicity,
1942
Series 6: "National Health Honor Roll Conducted by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the American Public Health Association, The
Canadian Public Health Association, Submitted by the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce, Virginia, Supporting Evidence,"
1943
[73 photographs]
Box 3
File 1: Health Committee; Annual Report,
1943
Box 3
File 2: Administrative Officers; Description of Services,
1943
File 10: Housing; Beauty Parlors and Barber Shops,
1943
Box 3
File 11: Weights and Measures; Home Nursing,
1943
Box 3
File 12: Special Activities; National Negro Health Week; New Hospital,
1943
Box 3
File 13: Civil Defense; Miscellaneous,
1943
Series 7: "Report of Arlington County, Virginia, Department of Health, American Public Relations Association Silver Anvil Awards, 1958 ." Two copies [19 photos each]
Box 3
File 1: Index; Administration; School Health; Public Health; Nursing; Lab; Venereal Disease - Chronic Disease Control,
1958
Box 3
File 2: Sanitation; Residency Training; University Affiliations; Civil Defense; Tuberculosis; Crippled Children; Speech and Hearing;
Anti-Convulsive Program,
1958
Box 3
File 3: Mental Hygiene; Retarded Children; State Department of Health; Children's Bureau; Foreign Officials,
1958
File 6: Venereal Disease; Immunization; Child Health; School Health; Clinics; Health Record Forms,
1942
Box 5
File 7: Industrial Hygiene; Virginia Workman's Compensation Act,
1942
Box 5
File 8: Washington National Airport, A Prominent Industry,
1942
Box 5
File 9: Public Health Nursing; Maternity Service,
1942
Box 5
File 10: Laboratory Service,
1942
Box 5
File 11: National Negro Health Week; lay organizations; Red Cross; Inter-Chamber Conservation Contest; Social Hygiene Board; Recommendations;
Criticisms,
1942
Series 9: "Report of the Arlington Chest X-Ray Survey,"
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