In the battle to contain syphilis in 1940s America, one simply has to remember Shelby County, Tennessee: it was the third largest syphilis hot-spot in the nation – much of it in the African-American community. This article is about the dramatic efforts made by the Shelby County Health Department to contain this illness and bring the other health concerns in that region to a halt.
“There are 66,000 inhabitants in Shelby County and in the past two years, the mobile hospital has made 110,000 visits.”
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