Women's work: public relations efforts of the US Children's Bureau to reduce infant and maternal mortality, 1912-1921

This article traces the efforts of the US Children's Bureau to reduce infan t and maternal mortality, primarily through education. The Bureau developed and carried out a carefully conceived public relations campaign that spann ed nearly 10 years, from 1912, when the Bureau was formed, to 1921, when th e Sheppard-Towner Act was passed by Congress. The Act was the first piece o f social welfare legislation passed by Congress. The Bureau's public relations campaign was notable for its use of innovativ e tactics designed to increase public awareness of the problems of infant a nd maternal mortality and gain support for passage of legislation to addres s the problems, This article proposes that it was this campaign that galvan ized public support for federal legislation, particularly among women. The campaign also was important because it was conceived and carried out almost entirely by women at a time when public relations as a field had not been formally defined. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.