It’s All Up to You! North Carolina and the Good Health Program, Part 2

As we left off in our last star-studded post, North Carolina leaders in the post-World War II years sought to improve the medical care and general health in the state through a public awareness campaign known as the Good Health Plan. Launched with the help of a few Hollywood friends, the North Carolina Good Health Association reached out to North Carolinians through print, film, and radio advertising and multiple forms of community engagement.

Advertising

Billboards and car cards were used throughout the state to publicize the name and goals of the plan, such as the needs for improved nutrition and an increase in hospitals.

Examples of two billboards used to publicize the Good Health Plan.  From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.
Examples of two billboards used to publicize the Good Health Plan. From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.

 

Milk truck from Durham, NC, displaying one of the campaign's car cards.  From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.
Milk truck from Durham, NC, displaying one of the campaign’s car cards. From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.

 Community Engagement

To get North Carolina citizens actively involved in campaign, the Good Health Association sponsored contests with prizes for both adults and children.  Grade school students competed in oratorical contests (segregated, with one competition for white students and another for black students) in which they were asked to speak about the need for improved health. Prizes for the winners included $500 college scholarships, RCA radios, and state-wide recognition.

Contest Winners
H.C. Cranford, publicity director of the N.C. Good Health Campaign, interviews oratorical contest winners Angela Marchena (Raleigh) and George P. McKinney (Salisbury) on radio station WDUK in Durham. Right: Contest winners Harvey Adams (Farmer) and Dorothy Raynor (Ahoskie) pose with their winnings: RCA-Victor radio phonographs. From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.

To increase awareness of the need for more medical professionals in the state, a Miss North Carolina Student Nurse pageant was established, with Kay Kyser himself on hand to crown the first winner.

Nurses
Miss NC Student Nurse Competition, circa 1948 and 1949. From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.

A store window display contest was sponsored to encourage support for the building of local hospitals and to encourage women to pursue nursing as a career.

Displays
Department store displays. Clockwise from top: Sears (Durham), Robbins (Durham), and Hudson Belk (Asheboro). From the North Carolina Good Health Association Records, #3550, Southern Historical Collection.

In conjunction with the national Hospital Survey and Construction Act (which provided federal grants and guaranteed loans to improve the country’s hospital facilities), the Good Health Campaign provided funding to increase medical care in underserved areas, including creating more hospitals (adding over 7,000 hospital beds) and training opportunities for medical professionals. This included the founding of the state’s first four year medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1950.  In addition, the public relations campaign helped to increase awareness of health and nutrition issues throughout the state in the post-World War II years.

4 thoughts on “It’s All Up to You! North Carolina and the Good Health Program, Part 2”

  1. Anyone need a best star hotel in India. You have to come bangalore , will get a luxurious hotel with a hifi facilities . I am sure that you will never seen like this hotels in India.

Leave a Reply to trioworldschool Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *