Adelaide Brown: An Online Exhibit of a Stanford Medicine Pioneer
This 1924 bulletin of the Milk Commission in San Francisco addressed a Bay Area foot and mouth disease epidemic, and reflected policy efforts by public health advocates like Adelaide Brown to ensure milk safety
Image courtesy of the Stanford Medical History Center
Milk & Public Health Advocacy
As increasing numbers of mothers in the 19th century switched from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding their babies, Adelaide Brown undertook multiple initiatives to increase commercial milk safety, including:
1894
The establishment of a milk laboratory in San Francisco
1906
Leading the San Francisco County Medical Association to monitor milk in schools and hospitals
1912
Serving as President of the California Medical Milk Commission
Adelaide Brown’s work in public health policy extended beyond milk safety. In 1914, California Governor Hiram Johnson appointed Brown to the State Board of Health—a position she held for sixteen years. In 1919, Brown was instrumental in the creation of a Bureau of Child Hygiene within the California Department of Public Health.
This map illustrated a report to the Palo Alto Board of Health about a 1902 typhoid outbreak in Stanford and Palo Alto, and reflected many Californians’ anxieties over milk safety
Image courtesy of the Stanford Medical History Center