January 2019 - British Society for the History of Medicine

‘That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all lessons that history has to teach’– Aldous Huxley

The Flint Water Crisis, which started in 2014 and is still on-going, is a contemporary example of where lessons from history have been ignored. Briefly, the authorities in Flint, Michigan, decided to replace the water supply from Lake Huron with the less expensive water from the Flint River. Unfortunately, the Flint River was heavily polluted and this led to Legionnaire’s disease and lead poisoning among residents using the water supplied by lead pipes. Of particular concern is the expert opinion that almost 9,000 Flint children are at risk of developmental difficulties and long-term conditions due to lead poisoning. The authorities have been heavily criticised for not testing the safety of the Flint river water in advance and for the delays in both accepting that there was a problem, and in implementing the changes necessary to supply safe water. The crisis has sparked intense political and media debate and several prosecutions are pending.

Image 1: Gums and tongue from a case of lead poisoning. Credit: St Bartholomew’s Hospital Archives & Museum, Wellcome Collection.

In the nineteenth century, several reports of lead poisoning secondary to lead pipes in Britain and the USA appeared in the medical literature and the popular press. The problem in Britain was widespread but particularly evident in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Scotland. In Sheffield, the problem was first reported in 1885 by the Medical Officer of Health and was traced to the water from one reservoir that corroded lead supply pipes and lead-lined cisterns, hence contaminating the domestic water supply. The resistant Sheffield Water Company only agreed to add lime to the water after a public inquiry in 1890. Of even greater concern is the shocking 120 year delay in accepting that lead poisoning in Glasgow was due to a combination of the water supply from Loch Katrine and lead supply pipes.

Could the Flint water crisis happen again? Yes, sadly it could, and the words of Huxley resonate strongly here. But, if we listen to the lessons of history, and learn from them, such needless harm can be prevented.

Further Reading

Anna Clark, ‘Nothing to worry about. The water is fine,’ The Guardian.17^thJuly 2018, accessed 24/1/19. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/03/nothing-to-worry-about-the-water-is-fine-how-flint-michigan-poisoned-its-people.
Mona Hanna-Attisha et al, ‘Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated with the Flint Drinking Water Crisis: A Spatial Analysis of Risk and Public Health Response,’ Am J Public Health.Feb 2016.106(2): 283-90.

Mike Collins

The story of Mary Mallon (1869-1938), reprehensibly branded ‘Typhoid Mary’ by the American press, provides an excellent example of how caricature and animation played an intrinsic role in the dissemination of information in relation to epidemic disease. ‘Typhoid Mary’ was the first healthy carrier of typhoid to be identified in the United States. An immigrant from the shores of Ireland, Mary was a cook by trade and had efficiently been serving up typhoid bacteria along with her food since she first set foot in an American kitchen in 1900. In 1907, the New York health authorities discovered her infective potential: as a result, she was isolated and quarantined for a total of 26 years. Mary Mallon was formally held responsible for infecting 53 people with typhoid fever, three fatally so. However, historian Richard Gordon clarifies that her casualty list was probably far larger than this, there is even speculation that she caused the 1903 epidemic at Ithaca, New York, which had a devastating 1,400 victims.

Image 1: ‘Typhoid Mary’, Wikimedia Commons. The image first appeared in The New York American on June 20, 1909.

The negative media portrayal that Mallon was subject to encouraged her forceful treatment by the health authorities. The papers delighted in depicting Mary as a devious cook, out to poison her employers. Mary Mallon was, as Roy Porter so aptly describes, “rapidly demonised”: by 1909, macabre cartoons in the popular press depicted her cracking egg-like skulls into a frying pan. The juxtaposition of such images of habitual domestication with deadly disease generated fear and panic amongst the American public. Mary herself was very aware of the bad reputation she was accruing, stating to the New York Times that she was “treated like a leper”. Mary’s description was not an exaggeration: she was banished to an island, destined to live the rest of her days in enforced solitude.

Mary Mallon’s story sparks social, moral and legal debate that has extensive contemporary societal relevance when considered within the context of epidemic disease. It is a mark of the infamous nature of this case that the phrase ‘Typhoid Mary’ still carries strong connotations, defined figuratively in the Oxford English Dictionary as “A person who… is the source of undesirable opinions, emotions, etc.; an unpopular or subversive person”. The power of caricature was instrumental in rendering ‘Typhoid Mary’ an inextricable part of American popular culture.

Monthly Archives: January 2019

The Flint Water Crisis: have lessons from history been forgotten (again)?

Caricature, contestation and the making of ‘Typhoid Mary’