Pamphlet describing the establishment of the Office of the State Board of Health

This eight page pamphlet features a description of the establishment of the State Board of Health and the yellow fever epidemic that followed just a few months later. The pamphlet also includes a copy of the public "Act to create a State Board of Health for better protection of life and health, and the prevention of the spread of diseases in the State of Tennessee." This act was passed by the Tennessee House and Senate on March 26, 1877 and approved by Gov. James D. Porter on the same day. Following this initial act is a second act, to amend the original act creating the State Board of Health, which gives the agency power to declare quarantine whenever the public welfare requires it. This second act was approved by the Tennessee House, Senate, and Governor on March 26, 1879.