Overview

Scope and Content

Collection consists of photographic prints documenting activities of the Vector Control Program of the former City of Dallas Health Department.

Vector control is any method to limit or eradicate the mammals, birds, insects, or other arthropods which transmit disease pathogens. The most frequent types of vector control include mosquito and rodent control. One of the first vector control actions occurred in 1902 when the creek in City Park was oiled to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.  By about 1916, mosquito spraying commenced, and by 1931, rodent control began in earnest.  Cleaning alleys, treating standing water, rat-proofing buildings, setting bait, and cutting weeds were common treatments.  A staff biologist was hired in 1953; staffing peaked in the mid-1960s but gradually declined as functions were transferred to the Dallas County Health Department in the 1990s.

The Dallas Health Department was created in 1872 by the City of Dallas Board of Aldermen, who employed Matt Cornelius, MD as city physician and health officer.  Until 1916, the health officer of the City of Dallas was also head of the city hospital.  The City and County Hospitals were informally linked through the construction of Parkland Hospital in 1913 and legally consolidated in 1923.  The Dallas City-County Hospital was replaced by the Dallas County Hospital District in 1954, creating a separate entity and eliminating the funding and governance functions split between the City of Dallas and Dallas County.

The department changed names several times, including Health and Human Services and, in its last iteration, the Department of Environmental and Health Services. The department's last organizational structure included the following four divisions:

Organization

None

Access

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.  The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Citation

Dallas Vector Control Program Photographs, (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Materials

2012-007 City of Dallas Health Department Program Files and Photographs, 1948-2005

Index Terms

Community health services -- Texas
Dallas -- Texas -- History
Dallas (Tex.). Health & Human Services

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