shack with a dirt floor, screens, little furinature, a few rags for bedding, and a privy only when underbrush was not nearby. Drinking water came from an uncovered, shallow well, often totally unprotected from direct surface drainage. The people who lived in his rural slum ate a pellagrous diet [of]...salt pork hominy grits, cornbread, and molasses formed the standared fare of the majority Macon Countys black residents, while red meat, fresh vegitables and fruit, or milk seldom appeared on their tables. As a result, chronic malnutrition and a host of diet-related illnesses were serious health problems (Jones 62).Medical facilities were present, however, the treatment that each gave was limited. The United States Veterans hospital located on the campus of Tuskegge Institute did not have an outpatient clinic and did very little for the surrounding community. The intellectual aloofness found at the Veterns Hospital was similar at the John A. Andrews Hospital also located in the vicinity of Tuskeggee Insistute. The John A. Andrews Hospital did have an outpatient clinic but the impact that the hospital had on the community was not substantial (Jones 64). It was the norm for many Blacks to go to from cradle to the grave without having experiencing any type of medical care (Jones 65).Since doctors were only consulted in dire emergencies, many blacks suffered with syphilis and its complications. So in 1930 when the Surgeon General announced that a syphilis control program was being created in Macon County blacks werein some cases excited about seeing a doctor and in other cases instructed by their employer to see a doctor without any explanation. Initially, the program was indeed a type of syphilis control program. Later that year, however, it was recommended that the syphilis control program be terminated and plans for a comprehensive health and welfare program be instituted. In 1932, the United States Public Health Service of...
