David Barnes, University of Pennsylvania
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Section on Medical History and the Section on Public Health and Preventative Medicine
Time: 6:30pm
Location: The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
The oldest surviving quarantine facility in the Western Hemisphere stands stately but empty and languishing on the banks of the Delaware River not far from Philadelphia International Airport. The Lazaretto was built between 1799 and 1801 in response to a series of devastating yellow fever epidemics in what was then the nation's largest city and busiest seaport. It bears witness to a century of immigration, disease, and public health policy amid shifting anxieties about the urban environment and threats from abroad. David Barnes explores some under-appreciated and surprising aspects of quarantine in the nineteenth century through the lens of this always controversial but remarkably durable Philadelphia institution.
Registration is requested at www.collegeofphysicians.org.