In the late 1900s to the mid-twentieth century tuberculosis (TB) increased the morbidity and mortality of South Dakota residents especially those confined to asylums, hospitals, and reservations. A marked decrease in cases and deaths occurred by isolating TB patients in sanatoria, better diagnosis methods, and with the advent of chemotherapy agents by the late 1950s.
In response to health threat posed by TB, the National TB Association (NTA) was formed in 1907. A South Dakota chapter organization, the SDTA, was formed in 1925. Much of the funding in South Dakota to enhance TB case finding, health education of students and medical staff, maintain TB statistics, and rehabilitate TB patients was garnered through the sale of Christmas Seals and donations. In South Dakota the organization also ran Camp Wanzer (Pactola, SD, Pennington County) from 1926 until 1949 for underprivileged children to help prevent TB by exposing children to clean air, good food, and a clean environment.
President I. D. Weeks was directly involved in the SDTA first as a board member, then as vice president and finally as president of the SDTA for twenty years from 1946-1966. In Dr. Week’s files at USD Archives and Special Collections, his prominent role in the organization is apparent. During annual meetings sections were devoted to improving methods of preventing the spread of TB and diagnosing and treating patients with TB. An emphasis was place upon the poorer health status among Native Americans that contributed to the spread of TB in reservations.
A seminal meeting about the status of TB in the United States was held on November 29 – December 2, 1959 in conjunction with the US Public Health Service and the NTA at the Arden House Conference on Tuberculosis (Harriman, NY). The role overcrowding in urban settings was mentioned as well as the use chemotherapy to treat TB patients. Most importantly, the conference attendees recognized that “the social, psychological, and economic aspects of TB were sometimes drastically subordinated to the medical”. As an appreciation of this concept now known as the “social determinants of health” is recognized as contributory to health and disease. Thus, the health status of patients compromised by additional diseases, poverty, and poor access to health care faired worst. In South Dakota, cases of TB among Native Americans in 1958 were 8 times higher than among Caucasians.
As the number of cases of TB plummeted in South Dakota by the 1950s (https://doh.sd.gov/documents/diseases/infectious/TB/2020TuberculosisControlProgram_AnnualReport.pdf), the SDTA morphed into the SD Tuberculosis and Health Association (SDTHA) focusing on lung diseases caused by infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, as well as those related to behavioral consequences such as smoking and poor air hygiene associated with air pollution in environmental and work settings. Throughout this transition, I. D. Weeks, as president of the organization, promoted lung health through education, use of tuberculin tests and X-rays to detect TB, and the publication of the Health-O-Gram that provided information about cases and deaths associated with lung disease and progress made in fighting lung disease in South Dakota.
In 1973 the SDTHA became the SD Lung Association, a chapter of the American Lung Association. The following year Dr. I. D. Weeks received the Agnes M. Holdridge Award for his long-term promotion of lung health. This highest award of the SD Lung Association was named after Agnes M. Holdridge who spent over 40 years promoting lung health in South Dakota. As USD president for 31 years, I. D. Weeks was known for his leadership in education and of the University of South Dakota. As documented in his files, I. D. Weeks also needs to be remembered and recognized as a leader in the fight against lung disease in South Dakota.
President I. D. Weeks (Coyote Yearbook, 1940).
Letterhead of the South Dakota Tuberculosis and Health Association (I. D. Weeks files).
Chest X-raying of USD students (The University of South Dakota Photography Collection: Preserving our Past in Images, 1930-1999, Sarah Hanson, Curator, 2005)
Archives and Special Collections Blog 