A Comparison of Death in Milwaukee during the year 1907 and the Environmental and Cultural Changes
For this project 247 deaths certificates from the city of Milwaukee reviewed. The birth and death date, age, ethnicity, gender, primary cause of death and secondary cause of death, occupation, duration of illness, and marital statues of each individual was recorded and analyzed. Every individual in the data set died in the months of October or November in the year 1907. The average age of death for the total population in the data set was 34.8 years of age. The average age of death for men and women of the total population in the data set was 39.3 for men and 33.9 for women. The data was broken down to look at each specific ethnicity. When …show more content…
“Diarrheal disease , a catchall category of intestinal illnesses chiefly of infancy, it embraced cholera infantum, “summer complaint,” dysentery, and other diseases whose common symptom was diarrhea. The disease spread through bowel excreta under condition of inadequate sanity facilities or through contaminated water and milk” (Leavitt,1982). The percentage of infant and child mortality may be due to the milk they were consuming. The Thirty-first Annual Report of the Commissioner of Health of Milwaukee for the year 1907 stated that there was a decrease in infant mortality compared to previous year. The explanation it gave for this was that there was a crusade of checking the healthiness of the milk that was to be consumed. (1907) “Infant mortality did drop during that period of the milk controversies, and it seems likely that this decline was not unrelated to the improving quality of Milwaukee’s milk supply.” (Leavitt,1982) From the data it is seen that there was a lower percentage of those that died between the years 1-5 than previous year but within the data of this age group some of them died due to diarrhea and exhaustion . This may be explained by the fact that “Contaminated milk might have affected the age one to five group more than it did the under one group, who were still largely breast fed.” (Leavitt,1982) “The drop in childhood mortality began in the late …show more content…
“During the last third of the 19th century Milwaukee’s rapid population growth and expanding industrialization overwhelmed the city and created an environment characterized by overcrowding, pollution, and high death rates. “ (Leavitt,1982) Urban areas during this time thought that sanitation was the most serious problem because of a popular medical theory that thought that dirty environments caused disease. (Leavitt,1982) In order to improve the health of the city of Milwaukee, “Milwaukee health officers either directly controlled or monitored garbage collection and disposal, sewage systems, water supply, privies and other nuisances , and industrial pollution” (Leavitt,1982). The city health activity and the development of public health played an important role for the live of many immigrants, it was probably the most important during the period from 1860 to 1930 when there was a rush of immigrants coming to Milwaukee. (Leavitt,1982) “By cleaning up the physical environment and regulating water sources and sewerage, public health reforms significantly reduced exposure to air- and water-borne diseases that thrived in unhygienic, congested urban surroundings”
For this project 247 deaths certificates from the city of Milwaukee reviewed. The birth and death date, age, ethnicity, gender, primary cause of death and secondary cause of death, occupation, duration of illness, and marital statues of each individual was recorded and analyzed. Every individual in the data set died in the months of October or November in the year 1907. The average age of death for the total population in the data set was 34.8 years of age. The average age of death for men and women of the total population in the data set was 39.3 for men and 33.9 for women. The data was broken down to look at each specific ethnicity. When …show more content…
“Diarrheal disease , a catchall category of intestinal illnesses chiefly of infancy, it embraced cholera infantum, “summer complaint,” dysentery, and other diseases whose common symptom was diarrhea. The disease spread through bowel excreta under condition of inadequate sanity facilities or through contaminated water and milk” (Leavitt,1982). The percentage of infant and child mortality may be due to the milk they were consuming. The Thirty-first Annual Report of the Commissioner of Health of Milwaukee for the year 1907 stated that there was a decrease in infant mortality compared to previous year. The explanation it gave for this was that there was a crusade of checking the healthiness of the milk that was to be consumed. (1907) “Infant mortality did drop during that period of the milk controversies, and it seems likely that this decline was not unrelated to the improving quality of Milwaukee’s milk supply.” (Leavitt,1982) From the data it is seen that there was a lower percentage of those that died between the years 1-5 than previous year but within the data of this age group some of them died due to diarrhea and exhaustion . This may be explained by the fact that “Contaminated milk might have affected the age one to five group more than it did the under one group, who were still largely breast fed.” (Leavitt,1982) “The drop in childhood mortality began in the late …show more content…
“During the last third of the 19th century Milwaukee’s rapid population growth and expanding industrialization overwhelmed the city and created an environment characterized by overcrowding, pollution, and high death rates. “ (Leavitt,1982) Urban areas during this time thought that sanitation was the most serious problem because of a popular medical theory that thought that dirty environments caused disease. (Leavitt,1982) In order to improve the health of the city of Milwaukee, “Milwaukee health officers either directly controlled or monitored garbage collection and disposal, sewage systems, water supply, privies and other nuisances , and industrial pollution” (Leavitt,1982). The city health activity and the development of public health played an important role for the live of many immigrants, it was probably the most important during the period from 1860 to 1930 when there was a rush of immigrants coming to Milwaukee. (Leavitt,1982) “By cleaning up the physical environment and regulating water sources and sewerage, public health reforms significantly reduced exposure to air- and water-borne diseases that thrived in unhygienic, congested urban surroundings”