In 1862, Dakota Territory passed a law prohibiting food and drug adulteration. By 1885, a territory-wide board of health had been created. But public health was still lacking.
In November 1918, a female student at the North Dakota Agricultural College became the first North Dakotan to die of the Spanish flu. An estimated 1,300 North Dakotans died in the pandemic. It made clear the state was unprepared for a health emergency. Sanitation was primitive. Cities and towns dumped raw sewage into rivers, allowing disease to spread downstream. Illnesses like diphtheria and scarlet fever contributed to the state’s death rate.
Finally, after years of advocacy by medical professionals, the state legislature acted. In 1923, a full-time health officer was hired, and a health advisory council was formed. It marked a radical shift in public health.
On this date in 1933, the North Dakota Health Officers Association closed its ninth annual conference in Bismarck. Doctors and nurses presented on the state of public health in North Dakota. Attendees learned of 29 deaths from a typhoid epidemic in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The city was cited as a positive example, having taken strong measures that brought the outbreak to an end.
The health of children was a major focus of the conference. Childhood malnutrition remained a persistent problem. The number of children needing dental care was reported to be “surprisingly large.” There was also an increase in childhood tuberculosis and diabetes. The association recommended that children eat more fruits and vegetables to improve their health.
Public health nurse Gena Johnson also identified a threat to children’s mental health. She warned about radio programs aimed at young listeners—“wild stories of hair-raising adventures.” She said children were “kept at a fever pitch from day to day,” focused on whether their favorite characters would escape from villains.
She was not alone in her concerns. The controversy over radio thrillers and their effects on children was widely discussed in scientific periodicals. It became one of broadcasting’s most pressing issues during radio’s golden age. Many of the same questions resurfaced later with television and now with social media.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “ND Health Heads Close Ninth Annual Conference in City.” Bismarck ND. 5/4/1933. Page 2.
- State Historical Society of North Dakota. “The Spanish Flu in North Dakota.” https://www.history.nd.gov/textbook/unit5_4_intro_flu.htmlAccessed 4/14/2026.
- North Dakota Public Health Association. “About Us.” https://www.ndpha.org/About_usAccessed 4/14/2026.
- The Journal of the History of Behavioral Science Paul M. Danos. “Chills and thrills: Does radio harm our children? The controversy over program violence during the age of radio.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/%28SICI%291520-6696%28199824%2934%3A1%3C33%3A%3AAID-JHBS3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-KAccessed 14 April 1926.
