The City of Manchester’s Board of Health and Department was formed in 1885. The department’s mission has evolved throughout its existence, but its general goal was and remains to improve the health of individuals, families, and the community through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats.
Collections
The reports of the Board of Health, and later of the Health Department, document the cumulative public health of the City of Manchester in a given year. The reports contain a variety of information relating to the general health of the city’s residents, depending on the year the report was created. This collection has invaluable information about the general history of Manchester’s public health during the late 19th Century and early to mid-20th Century; the annual reports provide the best overall documentation of Manchester’s public health during this time.