Honoring a tuberculosis trailblazer: Dr. Kathleen Jordan’s legacy in focus at Granite Falls exhibit

Minnesota Now

So far in 2024 there have been 100 diagnosed cases of tuberculosis in Minnesota. TB is a highly contagious disease that was at one time the leading cause of death across the country. You probably don’t hear about TB much anymore. In Minnesota, that’s thanks in no small part to Dr. Kathleen Jordan.

She worked to detect the illness in children early — before it became active and contagious. As one local historian tells it, Dr. Jordan gave out more than 1.5 million tuberculosis skin tests throughout her career. In September, an exhibit and series of events in Granite Falls will honor that work.

For more on the doctor’s story, Peggy Kvam of the Dr. Kathleen Jordan Project and Jill Heins, a national senior director with the American Lung Association, joined Minnesota Now.