Posted on May 15, 2019 at 2:47 PM by Bill Sowers
For over 40 years the state of Kansas operated a hospital near the city of Norton, Kansas, primarily for people suffering from tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB), commonly referred to as "consumption," years ago, is a highly contagious disease, spread through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. The disease grew to pandemic proportions during the 19th and early 20th centuries and hospitals, or sanatoriums, were established to treat patients. The Sanatorium at Norton opened its doors to its first patients in 1915.
The State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library has a near complete run of Biennial Reports for the Norton Tuberculosis Sanatorium, 1912/15-1956/58. The First Biennial Report is especially interesting as it concerns the politics and planning behind constructing a state run hospital.
You can view the Biennial Reports of the Norton State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis at:
Norton 1912/14-1956/58
Two of the Biennial Reports, 1954/56 and 1968/58) of the Southeast Kansas Tuberculosis Hospital (Chanute, Kansas) are also available at the KGI Online Library:
Chanute 1954/56-1956/58