UM student researching history of rural public health

ORONO – Martha Eastman of Bangor, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Maine, received a $2,000 grant from the Rockefeller Archives Center in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., to conduct research on rural public health in June.

Eastman, a native of Vassalboro, is examining the dynamics of rural public health in Maine from 1910 to 1950. By focusing on Madison, Mount Desert Island, Milo and Dexter, she is finding out how communities solved public health problems.

Eastman’s work will identify what health services existed in rural Maine in the first half of the 20th century, identify the individuals and groups who provided those services, and explain the dynamics of cooperation and conflict among the groups.

“Currently, Maine’s public health system is centralized at the state level, but public health administration was very different in the early decades of the 20th century. Back in 1917 Maine reorganized its Board of Health to create the State Department of Health, with three health districts covering the whole state,” Eastman said.

“These districts were soon expanded to eight, with a qualified health officer in each district, she added. “Today, public health nurses still work out of district offices, covering all regions of the state, but Maine no longer has district health officers. This research will demonstrate how our health system has evolved in Maine, and raise awareness of the importance of public health.”

Eastman will present her research at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting and exposition, “Putting the Public Back into Public Health,” Nov. 9-13 in Philadelphia. She also will prepare a report of her findings for the Rockefeller Archives Center.

Eastman was drawn to the Rockefeller Archives Center because of John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s connection with Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island.

Wealthy summer residents, including Rockefeller, regularly donated funds to support public health nursing services on Mount Desert Island. Summer residents corresponded with each other throughout the year about public health issues, such as supporting the public health nursing services, improving the milk supply in Seal Harbor and building the Red Cross chapter house in the early 1930s.

Eastman photocopied about 1,500 pages of documents from the center. Many dealt specifically with public health on Mount Desert Island, while others addressed statewide or regional public health issues.

Previously, Eastman conducted research in the records of the Mount Desert Nursing Association in Northeast Harbor and part of the Dunham Family Collection, which was on loan at the Northeast Harbor Library. She interviewed nurses who were active during the 1930s and 1940s, and visited the Rockefeller Archives Center for two days last year. Eastman gathered additional documents at the National Archives in College Park, Md., and the Hazel Braugh Records Center in Falls Church, Va.

Eastman’s research on the Maine towns is set in the wider context of rural public health in general. She is examining why local services varied from one county to another and from one town to another within the same county.

She said she is attempting to clarify who made the decisions about complying with directives that came from outside the local area; to differentiate between reasons for providing care – as in the cases of insurance companies, the American Red Cross or state government. She is exploring what difference public health services made in rural Maine.

Eastman also will identify factors that changed the way rural health care was provided, and examine the role of nurses and women in delivering and improving health services in the communities.

“When I began my research, I thought I would find more about conflict, as groups and individuals operated on contested terrain. But I am finding evidence of a lot of cooperation, and little evidence of conflict,” Eastman said.

“The cooperation was also complex, especially at the local level, as a variety of small agencies like women’s clubs, Granges, village improvement societies and youth organizations contributed. Sometimes these groups were formed to confront a specific issue, such as safe milk or water, or tuberculosis. Without those groups, there would have been more illnesses,” she pointed out.

“Public health services are something that you notice when they are not there,” she said. “Since September 11, there has been a greater awareness of the importance of the public health infrastructure because of the anthrax scare and the threat of bioterrorism. It’s important to understand why our public health system developed the way it did, and to make sure it is a strong enough system to cope when it’s under stress,” Eastman said.

Eastman has also examined documents specific to Madison, Milo and Dexter, but has not been able to locate as many sources for those towns as she has for Mount Desert Island. She is appealing to people or agencies that may have public health documents dealing with issues in those towns between 1910 and 1950 or information about the Maine Public Health Association during those years to contact her at 942-4311 or eastman@maine.edu.