Strong Hearts and Healing Hands

Clifford E. Trafzer is Distinguished Professor of History and Rupert Costo Chair at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of numerous books, including Fighting Invisible Enemies, American Indian Medicine Ways, and Shadows of Sherman Institute.

Although situated primarily in Southern California, Trafzer’s contribution to the history of health care for American Indians / Alaska Natives should be on the bookshelves of many health-care providers serving Native populations. Trafzer’s book reminds us that factors that contributed to health disparities of yesterday for many American Indian and Alaska Native communities continue today. Today, causes of death are less driven by cycles of infectious diseases but by poverty, and limited access to quality health care remains challenging and persistent." —Jennie R. Joe, author of Health and Social Issues of Native American Women"Clifford Trafzer brings his many years of experience and unique set of knowledge to uncover the understudied role of field nurses from the Progressive Era to the 1950s as they collaborated closely with a multitude of Native Americans in Southern California to promote public health and counter the onslaught of tuberculosis and other Western diseases that afflicted them as a result of being confined to reservations." —Andrae M. Marak, co-author of At the Border of Empires