ARC work in progress - CAROLYN EASTMAN (Virginia Commonwealth University): 'The Long Overlooked Gendered History of Yellow Fever Epidemics: New York’s Black and White Women in the 1790s'
| When: | Mo 11-03-2024 14:00 - 16:00 |
| Where: | Room T10, Turftorenstraat |
Work-in-progress session of the Americas Research Collective
Abstract
Our own experience with the Covid pandemic revealed clearly the racial, class, and gendered effects of the disease on the world's population.
Did earlier epidemics have similar effects? This talk reveals the surprising results of yellow fever on different populations, which cycled through American cities during the 1790s during an era when no one understood how it spread or how to treat it. Interweaving the stories of the women who experienced it on the front lines -- most of them poor -- this talk casts new light on how we address disease and those most vulnerable to its long-term effects.
About the speaker
Carolyn Eastman is Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University and the book review editor for the William and Mary Quarterly.