Health on Wheels in Mississippi: The Mississippi Rural Health Project of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

Abstract

This 1941 article describes the Mississippi Rural Health Project of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a sorority of Negro college women. The project was conceived by Ida Louise Jackson, a Negro teacher, in 1933. Operating a mobile health clinic ('Health on Wheels'), the project achieved significant results: thousands of adults were treated for diseases including malaria and syphilis, children were immunized against diphtheria and smallpox, and whole families learned to correct their malnutrition. The project served rural Black communities in Mississippi who had limited access to healthcare.