memphis – American Disasters

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I’m looking at the 1878 yellow fever epidemic in Memphis and the impacts on national reconciliation.

I started off my search for primary sources trying to obtain some sort of records surrounding the debates of the 1878 National Quarantine Act and the 1879 formation of the National Board of Health. Within these records I was looking to analyze the reasons Southern Congressman had for abandoning state right’s policies in favor of a stronger piece of federal legislation. In addition, I was hoping to explore the reasons of Northern opposition to national action.

I have been able to find some awesome sources that cover these debates, but could stand to find a few more, as well as newspaper sources that covered the debates. However, I need to be sure to keep this source narrowed to Memphis and the surrounding Mississippi River Valley. The plague also affected New Orleans and Atlanta (although it hit Memphis the hardest) so keeping my focus on Memphis has required some digging.

The yellow fever epidemic that plagued Memphis in 1878 claimed upwards of 20,000 lives, more than the Chicago Fire, the San Francisco earthquake, and the Johnstown flood combined. The epidemic was aided by El Niño, which turned the American South in a tropical region ideal for mosquitos, and by the rapid influx of immigration, which provided a fresh source of nonimmune blood. The response to the epidemic was controversial and chaotic and resulted quarantined cities, obstructed commerce, and paralyzed governments. Well over half the city’s population either died or fled, resulting in an economic collapse the led Memphis to temporarily loose its city charter. However, the epidemic of 1878 was not the first yellow fever outbreak in America, or even Memphis for that matter.

So how did the anxieties around previous yellow fever outbreaks affect the response to the catastrophic epidemic of 1878? And moreover, how did the reactions of the 1878 outbreak create new policies and regulations to prevent and quell future epidemics? To explore these questions, I plan on consulting a variety of different sources. Before the 1878, Memphis was somewhat notorious for loose sanitation regulations and practices, despite having been adversely affected by outbreaks in the past. So first I plan on consulting primary source accounts before the outbreak of 1878 that address the previous outbreaks of yellow flu and the subsequent responses. Furthermore, I plan on consulting a myriad of secondary sources that assess the efficacy of the response methods to the 1878 epidemic in reducing the impact of later epidemics. The response will include both government-sanctioned responses as well as civil and charitable actions.

The epidemic of 1878 affected cities and towns from New Orleans to Memphis. (Interestingly, many churchly folks cited epidemic as God smiting the large Mardi Gras festivals and Carnivals held in Memphis and New Orleans each year. Sound familiar? There is extensive amount of writing on the epidemic in New Orleans, however, but significantly less surrounding the outbreak in Memphis. Finding material specific to Memphis has slowed my research process.

Tag: memphis

Research Update: Yellow Fever 1878

Plaguing the Soul of the South: The 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Memphis