This traveling exhibition, produced by the National Library of Medicine, explores how party politics shaped the response to the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia.
As citizens confronted yellow fever in the absence of an effective cure or consensus about the origins of the disease, politicians and medical professionals alike seized on the epidemic to advance their respective political agendas. As a result, Philadelphia's sick and dying received medical care informed as much by politics as by the best available science.
This exhibition was developed and produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and curated by public historian Ashley E. Bowen. An accompanying exhibit program includes education resources and a digital gallery.
On view from February 3 to March 15, 2025, in the hallway outside of the Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab (see floor plan). Penn students, faculty, and staff can visit the Biotech Commons anytime the library is open. All other visitors are welcome on weekdays before 6:00pm. Find more information to plan your visit.
On February 25, historians and physicians will come together to discuss the 1793 yellow fever epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, examining the evidence around how epidemics unfold and who is held accountable as they do. Free and open to the public; registration required.
Featured image at top of page: Congressional Pugilists, 1798. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Members of America's first political parties made use of the yellow fever epidemic to further their respective agendas. The text at the bottom of the drawing reads "He in a trice struck Lyon thrice upon his head, enrag’d Sir / Who seiz’d the tongs to ease his wrongs, And Griswold thus engag’d, Sir."