New Deal sanitary privies helped reduce disease

Above: Some of the many thousands of sanitary privies installed in San Antonio, Texas, by New Deal work-relief programs, between 1933 and 1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A WPA poster promoting the use of well-built sanitary privies. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A WPA sanitary privy manufacturing site in Chestertown, Maryland, 1936. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

Above: Men installing the base of a sanitary privy in Missouri, 1938. Farm Security Administration photo, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal reductions in typhoid fever, hookworm, and dysentery

Between 1933 and 1943, Americans in New Deal work-relief programs, installed nearly 3 million sanitary privies (a more sophisticated term for outhouses). The WPA installed over 2 million of them.

These New Deal sanitary privies helped reduce disease, and the U.S. Surgeon General's annual report for fiscal year 1939 reported reductions in typhoid fever, hookworm, and dysentery. For example:

"In Mississippi, where 120,000 sanitary privies have been constructed, 161 deaths from typhoid fever and 917 cases of the disease were reported in 1932; in 1937, only 77 deaths and 349 cases were  reported. In Tennessee, 308 deaths and 1,898 cases were reported in 1932, and in 1937, only 145 deaths and 763 cases occurred. More than 175,000 sanitary privies have been installed in this State. In West Virginia, where more than 245,000 sanitary privies have been installed, a very substantial reduction in the prevalence of typhoid fever has been noted; 1,265 cases and 218 deaths occurred in 1932, as compared to 350 cases and 78 deaths in 1937" (p. 42).

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria. Typhoid fever is rare in industrialized countries. However, it remains a serious health threat in the developing world, especially for children. Typhoid fever spreads through contaminated food and water or through close contact with someone who's infected. Signs and symptoms usually include a high fever, headache, abdominal pain, and either constipation or diarrhea. Most people with typhoid fever feel better within a few days of starting antibiotic treatment, although a small number of them may die of complications. Vaccines against typhoid fever are available, but they're only partially effective."