Jim Harris book launch
Jim Harris will debut his new book, "Children’s Health and Urban Ecology in England, 1885-1919." This event will feature commentary from CPH Associate Professor Marian Moser Jones, who worked with Harris on this research.
About
"Children’s Health and Urban Ecology in England, 1885-1919" examines the history of urban public health campaigns in three of the largest English cities, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. It considers how local environments impacted children’s health by creating ecological conditions ripe for the spread of disease, as well as opportunities for improvements and interventions. Between 1885 and 1919, English public health leaders began to establish increasingly localized approaches to public health that included interventions in households and at schools. This work was conducted by new types of public health professionals, including health visitors to new mothers and school medical officers. While these programs emerged from local environmental conditions, two imperial military conflicts (the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First World War) drew national attention to the importance of children’s health. In examining the effects of these conflicts as well as the urgent response to local environmental conditions, Children’s Health and Urban Ecology highlights how the epicenter of public health shifted from cities to the state by the end of the First World War.
Jim Harris is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at Ohio State, from which he received his Ph.D. in 2017. He is an historian of modern Europe (with a focus on Great Britain) and the history of science, medicine and the environment.
This event will feature Associate Professor Marian Moser Jones, HSMP faculty member, as a commentator. Marian worked together with Jim on this research.
