A Matter of Medical Faith: The Anti-Vaccination Debate from 1880 to 1910

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dc.contributorRachootin, Stan
dc.contributorRenda, Mary
dc.contributor.advisorCzitrom, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorHartman, Elaine
dc.date.accessioned2018-06-25T12:51:19Z
dc.date.available2018-06-25T12:51:19Z
dc.date.gradyear2018en_US
dc.date.issued2018-06-25
dc.description.abstractThe History Department thesis “A Matter of Medical Faith: The Anti-Vaccination Debate from 1880 to 1910,” explores the first anti-vaccination movement in the United States, and its eventual culmination in the 1905 Supreme Court case Jacobson v Massachusetts. Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, the anti-vaccination movement was a diverse group of activists, ranging from alternative medical practitioners, to concerned parents who feared for their children’s safety. These grassroots anti-vaccination groups contended with a rising public health movement over issues of vaccine safety, scientific beliefs, and the boundaries of state authority. Through “scientific evidence,” public challenges, and court battles, both sides of the anti-vaccination debate fought to convince a hesitant and suspicious public of their own medical beliefs. As both sides grappled for power and legitimacy in a changing medical world, the argument over vaccination helped to redefine the place of government in health, and the balance between the needs of society and individual rights.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipHistoryen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/4648
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedpublicen_US
dc.subjectVaccinationen_US
dc.subjectpublic healthen_US
dc.subjectvaccineen_US
dc.subjectsmallpoxen_US
dc.titleA Matter of Medical Faith: The Anti-Vaccination Debate from 1880 to 1910en_US
dc.typeThesis
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke College

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