News
The Role of Gota de Leche in Public Health in the American Colonial Era
Last year, Professor Mina Roces of the Department of History of the University of New South Wales approached Gota de Leche for archival sources on an article she was writing about the American Colonial period. Her publication aimed to focus on Filipino elite women in the history of public health; those who were not health practitioners (doctors, nurses or midwives), but who were heavily involved in the campaign against infant mortality during the times (1906-1940).
The board of directors and officers of Gota de Leche supported the decision to have a book on Gota written from the foundation’s perspective. Professor Roces’ abstract argues that Filipino elite women fulfilled the extremely important role of administrators of organizations that addressed infant care and maternal and child health, in the distribution of milk and the dissemination of information about maternal and children’s health. Using hitherto unused sources from the archives of La Protección de la Infancia, the periodicals of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs, and colonial records, this study reveals how the public health movement in the Philippines was gendered, and analyzes the contributions made by Filipino elite women that have to date not yet been acknowledged in the scholarship.
Professor Roces acknowledged how invaluable her research with Gota became, and is honored to be the first historian who had access to them for publication. The Journal Women’s History Review is very highly regarded as a top ranking journal in women’s history internationally, and it is published in the UK by Taylor and Francis.
