Excerpt from Bulletin of the North Carolina Board of Health, 1913, Vol. 28The great epidemics of the 70's brought forcibly to the attention of the people the necessity for organized public health work. Though the first State Board of Health was based upon the suggestion of a woman in Massachusetts, during a typhoid epidemic in that state, the American Public Health Association, organized in 1872, was the chief influence towards organized State Boards of Health.The Secretary of the North Carolina State Board of Health says, in the First Biennial Report: "Had there been no Medical Journal in North Carolina there would have been no State Board of Health now in existence, " (1881). Investigation reveals the fact that the Medical Journal was edited by Dr. Wood, and that he was, probably, the sole proprietor, hence a true statement would read, "Had there been no Dr. Wood in North Carolina there would have been no State Board of Health organized at that time, " for the law establishing the State Board of Health was procured by him through his untiring efforts towards that end.The law establishing the North Carolina State Board of Health which was passed on February 12, 1877, made North Carolina the twelfth state to express its appreciation of organized health work by legislation. This law made the State Medical Society, which was organized in 1849, the State Board of Health. The work was placed by the Society in the hands of a committee, of which Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood was elected Secretary and Treasurer. The sum of one hundred dollars annually was placed at the disposal of the Medical Society, to defray the expenses of the work.The wedding of the Medical Society and the State Board of Health proved unsatisfactory and a new law, passed in 1879, severed the tie. Under this law the Board of Health was placed on a permanent basis. The balance of power was left with the Medical Society, however, as that organization was empowered to elect six members of the Board and the Governor (at that time Governor Jarvis) to appoint three. The appropriation was raised to two hundred dollars annually. A study of the financial report covering the first four years of the work shows how entirely inadequate the appropriation was and also emphasises Dr. Wood's devotion to the work. More than half the expense, incident to the execution of the duties of his office, was met by the Secretary out of his own not overabundant private means. Dr. Wood was elected Secretary of the newly appointed Board on May 21, 1879, and served in that capacity until his death on August 22, 1892.That Dr. Wood's vision for North Carolina has materialized can be readily seen, for in the first Biennial Report almost every phase of the work, as it is now being carried on, was touched upon and largely mapped out.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.