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Health Science Center Libraries Archives: Resources for understanding illnesses of our ancestors in the US

A guide to using the archives.

Background Information

Home medical manuals

 John C. Gunn. Gunn's domestic medicine, or, Poor man's friend, in the hours of affliction, pain, and sickness.   Digitized version 1847 edition. The 19th century in America marked a period where many lived in rural areas with little access to healthcare, and others did not trust allopathic healthcare.  This century also saw a rise in the creation of home medical manuals, books that detailed diseases, causes, and treatments.  Gunn's manual was particularly popular and had multiple editions starting in 1830 and continuing until the 234th edition issued in 1920!  Editions have been digitized and are available online.

Public Health Materials

Materials on public health help understand larger patterns of illness, including discussion of prevalence and appearance of new diseases and possible treatments, including quarantine efforts.

Florida Health Notes- 1892-1975   Some volumes are available in digital versions.  The linked site here is to a state site and includes a large number of scanned volumes.  This periodical is very helpful reporting on the current understandings of disease, their impact on Florida and how they were treated.  Borland Library in Jacksonville has a large collection of this periodical as well as other materials related to public health in Florida.

Particular Health Issues

Tuberculosis-

History- https://globaltb.njms.rutgers.edu/abouttb/historyoftb.php

PBS' American experience The Forgotten Plague episode- It is estimated that, at the dawn of the 19th c, tuberculosis had killed 1 in 7 of people who had ever lived. In the early 1800s  it struck Americans with a vengeance- infecting all ages, socioeconomic status. In order to take advantage of the believed effective fresh air cure, many in the US  moved to new cities in the south and west- it is believed that health seekers moving to the Los Angeles region played an important rol in stimulating the city's growth.  Mountain air also was believed efficacious and in 1873- one of the most remote regions in the US, the Adirondack mountains were believe b  Edward Trudeau to provide medicine for the lungs and he created the well known Saranac Lake sanitarium.  

Mississippi- Mississippi State Sanatorium Museum https://www.brc.ms.gov/sanatorium  https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/mississippi/the-sanatorium-museum-in-ms-will-fascinate-you

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/rayburn/554/

Sanitarium experience

Sunnyside: A First-Hand Account of the Sanitarium Experience 

https://savingplaces.org/stories/tuberculosis-sanitariums-reminders-of-the-white-plaque

Olive View Sanitarium, Los Angeles, Archives

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8tm7jgq/entire_text/

Olive View Sanatorium and Hospital records 1915-2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VJ6HNERiAQ

https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll2/id/19404/

Hookworm-

Public Health: How the Fight Against Hookworm Helped Build a System

Pellagra-

 

Polio-

 

Yellow Fever-

Past Treatments

Medieval Europe

Treatment of snake bite

Kathleen Walker-Meikle.  "Toxicology and Treatment: Medical Authorities and Snake-bite in the Middle Ages." Korot, vol. 22, 20132014

Toxicology and Treatment of Snake Bite.

Susan Scutti. "A brief history of antivenom." Global Health Matters. September / October 2022 | Volume 21 Number 5.

 

Health Systems and Understanding of Disease

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