Project Questions

1. Based on the primary source documents above, how might you define public health citizenship during and immediately following World War I? How do public health initiatives related to venereal disease intersect with issues of citizenship, gender, and sexuality in these documents? What might this say about how knowledge of disease is constructed and by whom?
2. Consider the pamphlet When You Go Home — Take This Book with You and the film End of the Road. The pamphlet was specifically for men while the film was made for a female audience. Why did public health officials create different educational materials for the sexes? What differences can you find between the pamphlet and the film, and what might this tell you about ideas of femininity and masculinity?
3. The study of venereal disease control policies during World War I and through the interwar period brings to light a central tension between protecting individual liberties and the public good. What justification did public health officials have for detaining women suspected of having a venereal disease? Was this policy a reasonable and efficient way for the government to prevent the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea? Should individual rights be sacrificed for the good of public health or security?
4. Central Question: How did twentieth-century ideas about gender and women’s sexuality shape the public health response to venereal disease within the context of World War I?