The State Mandates Smallpox Vaccination
The Washington State Board of Health declares that no child may attend public school without proof of successful vaccination.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At a special meeting of the State Board of Health, held in Tacoma September 8, 1892, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: Resolved, That by the authority vested in this board, it is hereby ordered that on and after January 1, 1893, no pupil shall be admitted to any public school in the state without presenting satisfactory evidence of proper and successful vaccination. The protection of the public health from the loathsome and deadly scourge of smallpox is a paramount obligation. Evidence of this protection will be most readily and usefully afforded by means of the certificate prepared and furnished by the state board, signed by a legally qualified physician.
“The protection of the public health from the loathsome and deadly scourge of smallpox is a paramount obligation.”
This 1893 order reflects an early public health mandate in Washington, long before the controversies surrounding modern vaccine requirements. It underscores how the state viewed schooling as a controlled civic environment subject to public safety regulation.
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