Browse Items (56 total)

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This film begins with the story of a young Italian-American couple whose baby is stillborn due to syphilis. It also tells the story of a young man who contracts the illness from a brothel. The film explains the effects of syphilis, emphasizes the…

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This sexual education silent film addresses exercise and physical health, hygiene, hormones, anatomy, procreation, menstruation, and venereal disease. (Click on the link below to download from OPA.)

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"Children! They are the only real wealth that the nation possesses. Will any one contend that every child's heritage should not be a healthy mind and body? Yet hundreds of thousands of them are denied this heritage, just as hundreds of thousands of…

1944 VDEI Posters - Version 2.jpg
"Guard them against syphilis, Get a blood test today"

This poster advises audiences to get a blood test. It features an image of an African American mother and her baby.

1942-44 Batchelor My Boy 2.jpg
Two older men sit having a drink. One says, "My boy was wounded in the African landing." The other man, looking disappointed, replies, "Mine was wounded in this country by a street walker."

1942-44 Welcome Home.jpg
This poster wards servicemen to "avoid VD" so they can go home "clean" to their families.

1938 Expectant Mothers! 2.jpg
This poster advises mothers to be tested for syphilis as soon as they know they are pregnant.

"You Can Have A Healthy Baby : Ask your Doctor to give you a Careful Physical Examination including Blood Test as soon as you know a Baby is Coming."

inherited syphilis.jpg
This poster uses a graphic picture of a child with congenital syphilis to warn that men's decisions to have premarital sex can have drastic effects for their future children.

"A man may transmit syphilis to his children. His children's children…

blind boys 1919.jpg
This poster features a photograph of young boys and explains that they have been blinded due to gonorrhea.

"These boys are blind because their mothers had gonorrhea, in most cases contracted from the father. Most of the blindness in children is…

treat every girl 1919.jpg
This poster advises young men to treat young women well. It is part of the "Keeping Fit" poster series.

"Treat every girl as you would like to have another man or boy treat your sister, girl friend, or sweetheart."

pure girl waiting 1919.jpg
This poster urges men to stay abstinent until marriage, keeping in mind their future wife. It is part of the "Keeping Fit" poster series.

"Somewhere the girl who may become your wife is keeping pure. Will you take to her a life equally clean?"

this girl 1919.jpg
This poster describes the effects of gonorrhea.

"This girl may become an invalid for life if she marries a man who has had gonorrhea not entirely cured. Gonorrhea causes: 1. Many surgical operations upon women; 2. Much invalidism among innocent…

syphilitic baby 1919.jpg
This poster warns viewers that a man may transmit venereal disease to his wife and children. It is part of the "Keeping Fit" poster series.

"The man who has contracted gonorrhea or syphilis may bring suffering upon the innocent. When he marries,…

1939 Worlds Fair Polio.jpg
This photograph shows an exhibit on public health at the 1939 New York World's Fair. It features displays on infantile paralysis (polio), tuberculosis, rickets, and other issues. There is also an iron lung displayed.

1939 Worlds Fair Shadow 2.jpg
This photograph shows an exhibit about syphilis titled, "The Shadow on the Land" that appeared at the 1939 World's Fair. It features a large microscope, photographs of family and children, and a map of the United States. Fair visitors are shown…

1925-35 Cleaning the Windows 2.jpg
This image juxtaposes two windows that represent society before and after life the promotion of social hygiene ideas. The "before" window reads "vulgar distortion of sex facts," "unsupervised amusements," "unsympathetic attitude of elders," and "low…

1922 The Happiness of Children.jpg
This poster associates healthy children with parents who have avoided VD. It is part of a larger poster series called "Youth and Life."

"A healthy, happy child is the greatest joy-bringer in the world : Healthy, happy children are born of fathers…

Secretions 1922.jpg
This poster discusses hormones. It is part of a larger poster series called "Youth and Life."

"The secretion of the ovaries makes the girl grow into a woman : The secretion in the testes makes the boy grow into a man : The ovaries and testes also…

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1922 Blinded by Gonorrhea.jpg
This poster explains how men may transmit gonorrhea to their family and that children can be blinded by the illness. It is part of a larger poster series called "Youth and Life."

"If the mother has gonorrhea, her child may be blinded at birth :…

1922 A Syphilitic Baby.jpg
This poster warns women about congenital syphilis. It is part of a larger poster series called "Youth and Life."

"Every child has a right to be well-born : If the father or the mother has syphilis, the child may be born or defective"

Venereal Menace Posters 1920.jpg
This brochure shows the PHS version of the "Keeping Fit" poster exhibit for young men.

Keeping Fit AA Posters 1920.jpg
The brochure shows the different posters included in a version of the "Keeping Fit" health exhibit created for African American men.

Children Tomorrow Inherit 1920.jpg
This poster promotes social hygiene among parents and children.

"Now he is building a strong, beautiful body and steady nerves : Soon he will be building ideas and laying foundations for social life : Promote through study groups a better…

What Kind Of Parents 1918.jpg
This poster invokes the family to promote continence among servicemen.

Go Back To Them Physically Fit 1918.jpg
This is a WWI social hygiene poster directed to servicemen. It invokes the family who awaits them at home to emphasize continence.

1940 NSHD Paper War on Quacks.jpg
This is the cover page of a broadside created and distributed for National Social Hygiene Day. It's headline addresses the year's theme--quackery.

1938 No Defense Life Expectation.jpg
This infographic compares the life expectancy of white and black men. It also shows changes over time in the average life expectancy for each group.

1937 Shadow Platform.jpg
This graphic highlights the important steps in controlling TB and syphilis. It is from a reprint of Parran's article in Survey Graphic on syphilis, TB, and African Americans.

1937 Shadow Treatment Not.jpg
This pictorial statistic contrasts the progression of syphilis in a person who seeks medical care and one who does not. It is a graphic print for an image that appeared in Parran's 1937 book, Shadow on the Land.

1937 Shadow Pregnancy.jpg
This pictorial statistic conveys that only a small percentage of children born to syphilitic mothers will be healthy if the mother does receive treatment during the pregnancy. It uses images of babies to represent the statistics. It is a graphic…

1937 Shadow One Year.jpg
This pictorial statistic shows how syphilis spreads between different people. It uses the spirochete symbol to indicate individuals' status. It is modeled after an epidemiological image from the early 1930s. Here, the image is presented without many…

1942-44 Let Em All Down.jpg
The poster shows a man in the VD ward. He comments that he has let down his fellow soldiers, his family, and his country by contracting disease.

1942-44 Every Man Dreams.jpg
"Every man dreams of a healthy family! Don't Let Syphilis or Clap Kill that Dream"

This poster appeals to servicemen's concerns about family, warning that VD could threaten their future plans. It features an image of a young woman and a baby.

1943* ASHA AA Pamphlet Cover.jpg
This is the cover to a syphilis pamphlet created for African American audiences. It shows a mother getting her blood drawn for a blood test while her husband and daughter look on.

1943 MS Syphilis AA Pamplet.jpg
This is the cover for a pamphlet created for African American audiences. It features a photograph of a black woman getting blood drawn.

1942 Parents First Best Teachers.jpg
This poster urges parents to deal frankly with their children's questions about sex, connecting social hygiene education to their future success.

"If your child asks a question regarding sex, answer it simply, naturally, and in your own…

1941 Syphilis Spreads Through Prostitution.jpg
"Outbreak of syphilis infections in a rural county : Monroe County, Tennessee"

This is an epidemiological chart that shows how one syphilis epidemic spread. This image was created earlier in the 1930s. Here it appears with a new heading.

1941 Batchelor Cartoon Strips 5.jpg
This comic strip shows Jane consulting her doctor and getting a prenatal syphilis test. She has a healthy baby. There is also text accompanying the strip that gives more information.

1941 Batchelor Cartoon Strips 2.jpg
This comic strip shows a couple, Frank and Ann, who consult their physician and get premarital syphilis exams. There is also text accompanying the strip that gives more information.

1940 syphilis could have ruined my home.jpg
"the Doctor found my infection and REGULAR TREATMENTS saved me and my children"

This poster promotes adequate treatment by a physician and reminds viewers that syphilis can affect the family.

1940 Safeguard the Family .jpg
This poster promotes National Social Hygiene Day as a way to protect the family.

1940 Live up to it .jpg
"'I bet you're stronger 'n' braver than anybody!' : Guard Against Syphilis and Gonorrhea : If you have sex relations.. 1. Use a rubber; Urinate afterwards and wash your privates with plenty of soap and water at once. 2. Go to a Prophylaxis Station…

1940 For Home And Country.jpg
"Avoid Venereal Disease."

Three figures, a soldier, a sailor, and a pilot, salute a woman and child sitting outside a suburban home. A US flag flies in front of the house. The text advises servicemen to avoid venereal disease with their family and…

1938 NYC Contacts Chart 4.jpg
This chart shows how gonorrhea was spread among children who attended the same school. It highlights "perversion contact," school contact, and family contact.

1938 NYC Contacts Chart 3.jpg
This chart shows the spread of syphilis in a rural southern community.

1938 NYC Cases Chart.jpg
This graphic shows how VD is transmitted, eventually resulting in congenital syphilis.

1938 ABC Syphilis.jpg
"What the average person should know about a very dangerous and prevalent disease"

This pamphlet includes short entires about syphilis in alphabetical order. It was included in National Social Hygiene Day Program Kits.

1937* Wassermann in Newborn Babies.jpg
This infographic breaks down the syphilis status of babies based on the among of treatment their mothers received during pregnancy.

1937* Syphilis Unborn.jpg
"Five out of six babies of untreated syphilitic mothers are born dead or diseased."

1936 Survey Graphic Reprint 9.jpg
"In Prostitution : In Marriage"

This infographic shows how syphilis is spread in prostitution and marriage. These graphics are based on case records from the NY State Department of Health. The image is from a reprint of the July 1936 article…
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