ACUMEN_Spring2021_FINAL_singlePP

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 23 black community to be a nursing service. He reached out to that group because it was assumed that the black population was immune, Tremper says. Rush observed African-Americans’ death rates from yellow fever to be low and they had been living in disease-prone environ- ments without obvious signs of distress. It was not true. In truth, they were just as susceptible, yet they responded to the call and performed a valuable public service by nursing the sick and caring for the city’s corpses. Tremper says that examining past interpreta- tions of the role of the state’s responsibility and reaction to protect the population will hope- fully help with future health policy decisions. “It’s not just about death. It’s about a govern- ment that’s based on meeting community needs,” she says. “Benjamin Franklin’s son died of smallpox. He said that if we can prevent one parent losing a child, then that should be the motiva- tion for public health and wellness policy.” ● in the 1780s, and John Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere were among the chapter members. The organizations printed information about the most up-to-date resuscitation methods and disseminated it in public places, along rivers, in newspapers and elsewhere. They offered rewards of money, medals or certificates to those who rescued or resuscitated drowning victims and shared stories about successes, and challenges, in annual reports and newspapers. At about the time these societies were being estab- lished, yellow fever outbreaks in 1793, and again in 1795, devastated approximately 8 to 10 percent of the country’s population. These epidemics forced the conversation into what types of prevention measures needed to be taken. These discussions related to new questions about how and by what authority local and state governments are involved in the public health. In Philadelphia, the impact was catastrophic. Benjamin Rush—city leader, physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence—appealed to the city’s free ILLUSTRATION BY ANURAG PAPOLU / THE CONVERSATION “ Benjamin Franklin’s son died of smallpox. He said that if we can prevent one parent losing a child, then that should be the motivation for public health and wellness policy.”