The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality (NCPIM) papers, 1959-1999, Date acquired: 01/01/2011, bulk 1987-1990
Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality (U.S.)
- Extent:
- 12.00 Linear Feet
- 23 boxes
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality papers, USF Libraries - Tampa Special Collections, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
Background
- Scope and content:
The papers of the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality consist of documents, photographs, and other materials detailing the formation and work of the Commission, established and chaired by U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles (D-FL, 1971-1988). The Commission was developed to find ways to reduce the high infant mortality rates of U.S. infants in the early 1980s, especially in southern states. The bulk of the collection concerns national hearings and meetings in which various high-profile organizations and individuals met to address governmental and private roles regarding the delivery of services associated with preventing infant mortality, as well as to recommend actions designed to change and improve the nation's comprehensive approach to this problem.
- Biographical / historical:
In 1981, Senator Lawton Chiles' prematurely-born grandson nearly died. From this experience, and knowing that the U.S. at the time ranked 17th in the world with an infant mortality rate of 11.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, Lawton Chiles began a crusade to reduce the death rates of U.S. infants, especially in his home state of Florida. In 1985, he led a congressional field hearing at a Washington, D.C. hospital that initiated the concept that ultimately became the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality.
The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality Act of 1986, a bi-partisan panel established by Public Law 99-660, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 14, 1986. Chiles chaired the Commission from 1986 to 1993, first as a Senator, then as Governor. (He was elected Governor of Florida in 1990.) The Commission helped focus the nation's attention on infant mortality and the importance of early prenatal care. The Commission was dissolved in 1993.
Governor Chiles, aspiring to continue his support of maternal and infant health initiatives outside his government position, established the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies in Tampa, Florida, in 1997. The Center's focus is on improving infant and maternal health research/services nationally. In December 1998, Lawton Chiles died of a heart attack, just three weeks before his second term as Florida's governor officially ended.
Note written by RC, 2013
- Acquisition information:
The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, University of South Florida
Transfer
- Custodial history:
Select materials transferred to The Chiles Center from the holdings of Mary Brecht Carpenter, MPH, RN, ca. 1999. (See letter addressed to Delores F. Jeffers, MPH, RN, January 12, 1999.)
- Arrangement:
Series
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Terms of access:
The contents of this collection may be subject to copyright. Visit the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ for more information.
- Preferred citation:
The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality papers, USF Libraries - Tampa Special Collections, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
- Location of this collection:
-
The University of South Florida, Tampa Campus4202 East Fowler Ave. LIB122TampaFL33620-5400USA
