Yellow Fever Epidemic, Philadelphia (1793)
If you enjoy this novel....
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
This fictional diary is the story of Mattie, a teenager who lives in Philadelphia at the time of the yellow fever epidemic that took the lives of up to 5,000 people in one year. She learns resilience as she gets separated from her family and has to find a path to survival.
Awards: Golden Sower Award, Honor Young Adult Nebraska
Great Lakes Great Books Award Michigan
Jefferson Cup Award, Honor Book
Mark Twain Award, Second Place- Missouri
Massachusetts Children's Book Award, Honor Book
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award, Winner
Reviews: "Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, her widowed mother, and her grandfather are eking out a living running a coffeehouse in the middle of bustling Philadelphia when they learn that their servant girl has died of yellow fever. Thus begins Matilda's odyssey of coping and survival as the disease decimates the city, turning the place into a ghost town and Matilda into an orphan. Anderson has carefully researched this historical event and infuses her story with rich details of time and place (each chapter begins with quotes from books or correspondence of the late-eighteenth century), including some perspective on the little-known role African Americans played in caring for fever victims."- Stephanie Zvirin (Booklist, Oct. 1, 2000 (Vol. 97, No. 3))
This fictional diary is the story of Mattie, a teenager who lives in Philadelphia at the time of the yellow fever epidemic that took the lives of up to 5,000 people in one year. She learns resilience as she gets separated from her family and has to find a path to survival.
Awards: Golden Sower Award, Honor Young Adult Nebraska
Great Lakes Great Books Award Michigan
Jefferson Cup Award, Honor Book
Mark Twain Award, Second Place- Missouri
Massachusetts Children's Book Award, Honor Book
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award, Winner
Reviews: "Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, her widowed mother, and her grandfather are eking out a living running a coffeehouse in the middle of bustling Philadelphia when they learn that their servant girl has died of yellow fever. Thus begins Matilda's odyssey of coping and survival as the disease decimates the city, turning the place into a ghost town and Matilda into an orphan. Anderson has carefully researched this historical event and infuses her story with rich details of time and place (each chapter begins with quotes from books or correspondence of the late-eighteenth century), including some perspective on the little-known role African Americans played in caring for fever victims."- Stephanie Zvirin (Booklist, Oct. 1, 2000 (Vol. 97, No. 3))
Then find out what really happened with....
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
Follow the progression of the yellow fever during post-revolutionary Philadelphia with maps and interesting accounts of those who stayed behind to fight the disease.
Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, Winner Nonfiction
James Madison Book Award, Winner
John Newbery Medal, Honor Book
National Book Award, Finalist Young People's Literature
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, Winner
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, Winner
Reviews: "In this superbly written work, Murphy thoroughly examines the yellow fever plague of 1793 that paralyzed the city of Philadelphia for several months. Every aspect of the epidemic is brought to life, from the overall living conditions in Philadelphia just prior to the outbreak to the Constitutional crisis that seemed imminent because of President Washington's inability to convene Congress in a plague-ridden city. The disease itself is covered from symptoms to cause, as are the eighteenth-century treatments for yellow fever: bleeding and isolation. Murphy ends with bringing the reader up to date on the state of this terrible disease, including the chilling revelation that "there is still no cure for yellow fever." This book represents nonfiction at its best."-Sarah Dornback (VOYA, December 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 5))
Follow the progression of the yellow fever during post-revolutionary Philadelphia with maps and interesting accounts of those who stayed behind to fight the disease.
Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, Winner Nonfiction
James Madison Book Award, Winner
John Newbery Medal, Honor Book
National Book Award, Finalist Young People's Literature
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, Winner
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, Winner
Reviews: "In this superbly written work, Murphy thoroughly examines the yellow fever plague of 1793 that paralyzed the city of Philadelphia for several months. Every aspect of the epidemic is brought to life, from the overall living conditions in Philadelphia just prior to the outbreak to the Constitutional crisis that seemed imminent because of President Washington's inability to convene Congress in a plague-ridden city. The disease itself is covered from symptoms to cause, as are the eighteenth-century treatments for yellow fever: bleeding and isolation. Murphy ends with bringing the reader up to date on the state of this terrible disease, including the chilling revelation that "there is still no cure for yellow fever." This book represents nonfiction at its best."-Sarah Dornback (VOYA, December 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 5))
Find out more....
World Health Organization WHO: Yellow Fever: Where is the yellow fever today? The World Health Organization gives facts about the disease and its prevention. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/
With Doctors like These... Philly.com: This article written in 1993 by Ron Avery tells of some of the cures that doctors had for yellow fever. They are a quite shocking by modern standards. http://articles.philly.com/1993-09-27/news/25986038_1_yellow-fever-cure-laxative
Open Collections Program: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics: This website gives access to historical books written on the time about yellow fever. It also gives a gateway to look at other dangerous diseases that caused epidemics. http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/yellowfever.html
Fever 1793: Philadelphia the Great Experiment: This video is a chapter of a group of documentaries done by History Making Productions. It is also available on the History Making Productions website. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L5olIfYcI
With Doctors like These... Philly.com: This article written in 1993 by Ron Avery tells of some of the cures that doctors had for yellow fever. They are a quite shocking by modern standards. http://articles.philly.com/1993-09-27/news/25986038_1_yellow-fever-cure-laxative
Open Collections Program: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics: This website gives access to historical books written on the time about yellow fever. It also gives a gateway to look at other dangerous diseases that caused epidemics. http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/yellowfever.html
Fever 1793: Philadelphia the Great Experiment: This video is a chapter of a group of documentaries done by History Making Productions. It is also available on the History Making Productions website. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L5olIfYcI