research – American Disasters

April 6, 2014December 16, 2020

Research Update and Addition to March 10 Blog Post

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Research Update

I’m looking at the 1886 Charleston Earthquake. Right now, I’ve found quite a few newspaper reports on the disaster. They contain interesting points that seem to relate to larger themes about the earthquake. For instance, the newspaper article I analyzed for suggested that Charleston was ready to rebuild immediately after the disaster. The city also wanted to assure outsiders that the economy—primarily port-based shipping—was not damaged by the earthquake.

Underneath all this optimism though, there are some hints at racial tension. The paper linked an incident of a landlord evicting a tenant for not paying immediately after the earthquake to race; the tenant happened to be African-American. This ties into what I have seen in secondary sources about the earthquake exacerbating racial tension. I also found this to be a theme that runs across many of the disasters we have studied. Like Biel suggests, disasters don’t necessarily cause societal change, but they do reveal fissures in society.

There are primary sources like diaries that I have found about the earthquake. Unfortunately, some of the diaries are not digitized. I’d have to travel to actually access them. I’ll continue searching though for primary sources I can actually read.

Addendum to March 10 “Fire and Water: Comparing the Great Chicago Fire with the Johnstown Flood Blog Post:

As for comparing the lack of crime in Johnstown with the crime in Chicago, I think there may have been several reasons for the differences. First, Johnstown was basically inaccessible after the flood, whereas criminals could get into Chicago. Second, the flood may have permanently destroyed things of worth in Johnstown. For instance, safes could have been buried under flooded houses by the water. The fire, on the other hand—while it obviously burned many things—left more valuables like safes out in the open; in fact, it made it easier to open them. Finally, Chicago has more wealth than Johnstown did. Johnstown was primarily a lower class town, so there would have been less to steal in Johnstown than in Chicago.

April 3, 2014December 16, 2020

Research Update: Yellow Fever 1878

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.

April 2, 2014December 16, 2020

Gendering Human Responsibility

The portion of the Steven Biel reading that was particularly interesting to me was his description of the ways in which different narratives developed regarding “male chivalry” after the Titanic’s sinking. This discussion relates directly to my research on the various portrayals of male heroism as a result of the Titanic for my final paper. My research has led me to read various newspaper articles from the days and weeks after the Titanic sinking, most of which exuberantly praise the men who died on the ship as a result of the “women and children first” philosophy.

Biel’s discussion makes is obvious that the narrative of “male chivalry” was by no means uncontested. The ways in which the same narrative regarding male heroism were manipulated after the disaster of the Titanic is what makes the study of gender relations during this time period so interesting. The perspective from the Progressive Women’s magazine is particularly interesting as it makes no attempt to negate the male’s “chivalrous” end, but instead points out the absence of male chivalry in life (Biel 104-105). This narrative calls out the concept of human responsibility in disaster, which we have discussed repetitively in class. However, this narrative takes the additional step of gendering the term, and instead of blaming human error, it specifically targets male error as the cause of the disaster. These women’s interpretation of the male sex’s guilt in the Titanic is related to Molly’s previous post about the ways in which the people in charge are primarily responsible for the disaster.

March 11, 2014December 16, 2020

Outbreaks of Typhoid Fever in Davidson, NC: A Case Study for the Treatment of Disease during the Gilded Age

Disease is a particularly potent subset of disaster as it is a silent killer that has not historically been well understood. Due to the mystery surrounding its’ spread, it has incited folklore for centuries. I propose to examine Typhoid Fever in the town of Davidson as a case study for the spread of disease in Gilded Age America. Typhoid, the common name for Salmonella typhi, is a waterborne disease that can cause high fever, rash, and gastrointestinal problems.[1] I will study outbreaks of Typhoid Fever in Davidson, NC from the foundation of the college in 1832 until 1920, when Typhoid Fever vaccinations were more common, thus reducing the morbidity and mortality of the disease.[2] In comparing the treatment of patients and possible outbreaks in a small town setting with those in national data, I will attempt to better understand the way that Americans in this time period viewed disease. More specifically, I will examine the folklore surrounding Typhoid, in Davidson and on the national scale, in order to better understand the views that were held by lay contemporaries of a disease that was not yet commonly understood. I intend to study the folklore surrounding the spread of Typhoid as well as its’ treatment, in addition to the relationship between the prevalence of these ideas in popular literature and their correlation with local and national outbreaks.

I will use resources from the Davidson College Archives as well as information on the disease in other locals within the same period. One particularly interesting source that I have located is a pamphlet published in 1916 entitled “Typhoid Fever and How to Avoid it.” I intend to use this source to gain valuable insight into the commonly held beliefs surrounding the disease, as laid out in a self-help type format, a form that became prevalent during the Gilded Age. I will also examine our class text, Typhoid Mary, to examine one case study of Typhoid in New York at the turn of the century. I intend to use this second case study to examine the treatment of patients and asymptomatic carriers. I will use the literature from the Davidson area to form a case study on the myths surrounding the presumed prevention and treatment of Typhoid Fever during the Gilded Age.

[1] “Typhoid Fever,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last modified May 14, 2013, http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/.

[2] “Typhoid Fever History,” News Medical, http://www.news-medical.net/health/Typhoid-Fever-History.aspx

March 9, 2014December 16, 2020

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

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.

March 5, 2014December 16, 2020

Close to Monongah, Even Closer to a Thesis: Research Update (3/5/14)

I realize that this post is a week late. I guess that the lack of assigned reading kept me from looking over the syllabus last week. Still, I figure that a research update could be helpful and maybe—I really hope it does—count as a blog post.

I’m currently half an hour north of Monongah. Initially, I had hoped to visit the town and see the historic mines, cemeteries, and memorials, but 6″ of snow and sub-freezing temperatures have kept me from venturing too far outside. Instead, to escape the cold, I’ve spent the last day in the warmth of the West Virginia Regional History Center. Though I’ve been able to gather some primary sources digitally, the best—that is, the personal letters, company records, and investigative reports from the disaster—are all housed in the Center’s archives. I’ve been lucky to peruse and photocopy the many of these. In addition to these primary sources, I have slowly been working my way through stack of secondary sources. I have found these to be the most helpful in narrowing my thesis.

Though my initial plan was to research the disaster’s death toll and the way it was falsified and reported, I’ve found in my research that not only is this question less feasible than other options. It’s also much less interesting. Plus, a number of scholars have written on the very topic in the last several years, leaving the question practically null and void. So, I have since changed my focus. By the end of last week, I had three “lenses” through which I planned to examine the disaster and find my thesis: gender, ethnicity, and class. Since nearly half of the victims of the disaster were either Italian-speaking immigrants or illiterate natives, uncovering the various views of the disaster from ethnically diverse perspectives would be unfeasible. Likewise, interpreting the disaster from the standpoint of gender would be difficult, considering the paucity of surviving letters and records of the women directly involved with the disaster, the 250 widows. So, by process of elimination, I have chosen class.

My research now focuses on the class tensions that arose during the hearings following the disaster and during the subsequent movement to reform West Virginia’s mining laws. Today, I read through the correspondence of West Virginia mining officials and Fairmont Coal Company owners to find primary sources from an “elite” perspective. Tomorrow, I will examine the letters and records of the miners themselves.

So, though I may be close to Monongah, I think that I am even closer to a thesis. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow, as I begin my drive back to Davidson, I will have stumbled upon it. Then, the process of writing really begins.

February 25, 2014December 16, 2020

Research Proposal: The Cholera Epidemic of 1832

Research Proposal

Blog Post 5 (for Thursday, 2/27)

Tentative title: “Disease in the Modern World: The Cholera Epidemic of 1832”

The cholera epidemic of 1832 killed thousands of people and caused panic cross multiple continents. Seemingly healthy individuals could become diseased and die within hours. The circumstances of modernity— industrialization, urbanization, globalization and immigration — especially exacerbated the outbreak of cholera in New York City. Industrialization eroded the air and water in urban environments. Urbanization resulted in areas of highly concentrated population. Globalization connected the world in unprecedented ways, allowing for the transfer of goods and people. Immigrants brought disease along with them. The cholera epidemic of 1832 exemplified the relationship between modernity and disaster during the Gilded Age. It also demonstrated class disparity. Because the disease was spread through water supplies, members of the lower class were far more susceptible. Wealthy residents had access to cleaner water and better medical attention. Those who had the means fled the city seeking refuge.

The cholera epidemic of 1832 suggests the following historical questions: what was the relationship between American industrialization, immigration, globalization and the conditions that led to the cholera epidemic of 1832? What was the significance of class disparity during the cholera epidemic? To what extent was nature responsible for the cholera epidemic, and to what extent was mankind? What makes a Gilded Age/Progressive Era disaster different from other kinds of disaster, and in what ways does the cholera panic demonstrate this distinction? How do reactions to this particular epidemic illuminate contemporary perspectives of disaster?

There are many different angles from which to view the cholera epidemic of 1832, and as a result, there are many different types of relevant sources. Secondary sources are useful for gaining context for some of the larger themes surrounding the disaster, such as industrialization, urbanization, globalization, immigration and class disparity. I wasn’t able to find any articles that synthesized these broad but indisputably linked themes, unfortunately. Certain books, however, seemed promising. For example, Silent Travelers by Alan Kraut examines the connection between immigration and the transfer of disease during the Gilded Age/Progressive Era, and how this connection contributed to xenophobia. Primary sources would be useful to tease out the tones with which people spoke about immigration and class disparity. Medical journals would be useful to explain how the disease works, how it is transmitted, and the processes for treating it. A study of relationship between modernity and the cholera epidemic of 1832 would necessarily include a wide range of sources.