Editor’s Note: The New-York Historical Society was kind enough to give two of our writers a preview of its new Smallpox exhibit. We thus have two reviews. They both happen to be excellent, and I learned something different from each of them. Enjoy!
Review #1
By Clare Smith Marash
This week a new exhibit opened at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library. BE SURE! BE SAFE! GET VACCINATED!: Smallpox, Vaccination and Civil Liberties in New York tracks the changing public views of a disease that at one time killed almost a quarter of those infected. The exhibition takes its name from a highly successful 1947 campaign that led to five million New Yorkers receiving vaccinations in two weeks time. Multifaceted and informative, GET VACCINATED! draws attention to the impact of public understanding and cultural temperament in addressing illness and epidemic. As curator Jean Ashton, Ph.D., stated, “Disease is a cultural event.”
The eradication of smallpox—the last known case occurred in 1977—has been wholly dependent on public vaccination, sometimes voluntary and sometimes compulsory. While a 1905 Supreme Court case established mandatory vaccination as legal, a debate still rages today between the benefits of vaccination versus the impingement of one’s civil rights. The debate’s implications have been most recently highlighted by the outbreak of whooping cough in Washington state. While whooping cough has been controlled via vaccination since the 1940s, Washington has the highest percentage of parents in the nation who voluntarily exempted their children from one or more vaccines due to fear of side effects or for philosophical reasons. A report published last November found that in more than half of states, the number of parents opting to skip some or all childhood vaccines is rising. As Dr. Ashton pointed out, historically when a disease is not widely prevalent, acceptance of compulsory vaccines is typically low as well.
Vaccination—inoculating a person with a diluted form of an illness in order to create immunity—has been used for smallpox since the 18th century. Museum displays include a letter from George Washington demanding the inoculation of his troops during the revolutionary war and lists of the ill by preacher Cotton Mather, who learned from a slave about the inoculation technique and was highly encouraging of the preventive measure.
A portion of the exhibit also highlights greater cultural discussions of disease, including old radio addresses encouraging vaccination, images from movies about epidemics, and a list of books about smallpox and the spread of disease. As exemplified by these materials, epidemics and disease prevention remain a perennial societal issue, and have become especially critical in an age where fears of bioterrorism are high.
The exhibit is brief but thorough and provides an interesting lens in which to consider disease and illness prevention in our nation. The historic conflict between individual civil liberty and community protection remains a highly-debated issue in our nation and GET VACCINATED provides an unique collection of materials to highlight our continued fascination. In addition to this exhibit, open through September 2nd, curator Dr. Ashton will join a panel presentation entitled Pandemic Fix: Seeking Universal Vaccines as part of the World Science Festival (May 30th through June 3rd).
Review #2
By Nancy Novick
In 1947, New Yorkers had plenty of reason for optimism: The United States and the Allies had vanquished the Nazis and post-war prosperity was around the corner. But a new threat, a possible smallpox epidemic struck fear into the hearts of many of the city’s residents and prompted one of the most effective public health initiatives to date. The smallpox scare and the administration’s campaign to Be Sure, Be Safe! Get Vaccinated! is the subject of a new exhibit that just opened at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library.
Through a compelling display of artifacts, the exhibit clearly tells the story of the threat—prompted by the arrival in the city of Eugene Le Bar, a man who was infected while visiting Mexico—to the vaccination of more than 5 million New Yorkers over the course of two weeks. The response was particularly impressive given the fact that getting a vaccine was voluntary. Many New Yorkers had heard about or seen first-hand the effects of this painful, disfiguring, and highly contagious disease and had no wish to put them selves at risk. (Information on a small, but vocal contingent who opposed vaccination is also on display.)
Be Sure! Be Safe! Get Vaccinated! places the 1947 vaccination campaign in the broader context of previous smallpox outbreaks in the United States and the earliest attempts at inoculation that led to the development of an effective vaccine. Highlights include photographs of New Yorkers lining up to be vaccinated, George Washington’s order to inoculate the troops, and a sampling of books, movies and magazine articles inspired by the smallpox threat. The photo above is of a glass sculpture of the smallpox virus by artist Luke Jerram.
The successful campaign to protect New Yorkers was followed by the eradication of smallpox in the United States during the 1950s. Today the smallpox virus exists only in the laboratory setting at two well-protected sites: one in the United States and one in Siberia, where they are conserved in case of future need to develop a vaccine. And while smallpox no longer poses an imminent threat, the curators raise some important questions about the potential for bioterrorism and the civil right issues raised by compulsory vaccination programs. As we continue to see today, when it comes to many areas of healthcare, balancing the needs of the individual with the greater good of the population continues to pose an ethical dilemma.
Be Sure! Be Safe! Get Vaccinated! Smallpox, Vaccination and Civil Liberties in New York will be on display through September 2, 2012.
Top photo courtesy of N-YHS, middle photo by Clare Smith Marash, and bottom photo by Nancy Novick.
Clare Smith Marash is hosting a 6-week writing course this summer. Nancy Novick also writes about books, bookstores and libraries at Stacked-NYC.