The Anti-Vaccination Protest of 1909
Tacoma parents, barred from sending their children to public schools, organize a legislative campaign against compulsory vaccination laws.
Determined efforts will be made by the anti-compulsory vaccination advocates to have the present vaccination law amended or repealed. Over 50 parents who have had their children barred from the public schools of Tacoma because they refuse to allow them to be vaccinated, attended a meeting yesterday afternoon and took action to carry the fight to the legislature. In the meantime, a committee will be appointed to wait on the school board and ask that the exclusion of pupils be held in abeyance until the supreme court passes on the law in the case now before it. Charles Steele, president of the Seattle society, was present and made a talk in favor of appealing to the legislature. Chairman E. L. Culver of the Tacoma society also recommended a vigorous descent on the legislature with a demand for the repeal of the law. Committees will be appointed this week to carry forward the work and another meeting will be held at the Grocers' association hall in the Provident building, tomorrow night.
“Over 50 parents who have had their children barred from the public schools of Tacoma because they refuse to allow them to be vaccinated, attended a meeting yesterday afternoon.”
Debates over public health mandates and school attendance have deep roots in Washington. While the specific legal context has evolved, the tension between parental autonomy and state-enforced health requirements remains a recurring theme in Washington’s legislative halls.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.