HIST 1084-01: Globalization II

Tropical Disease in Primary Sources

Infectious Diseases

This page provides access points for primary sources related to different tropical diseases in the early 20th century. Studying disease often requires researchers to connect the lived experience with the science of the disease and medicine. That means looking at pictures but also reading government reports, medical journals, and more.

What's on This Page

This page has a lot on it. You can use the following anchors (links down the page) to jump straight to a relevant box.

Broad Digital Collections for Disease

Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics
This online collection offers important historical perspectives on the science and public policy of epidemiology today and contributes to the understanding of the global, social–history, and public–policy implications of diseases.
Global Health Chronicles
Includes photographs, oral histories, and related media on malaria, small pox, guinea worm, polio, AIDs, and ebola. Focused on the 20th and 21st centuries.
more...less...
The Global Health Chronicles, a collaboration between the David J. Sencer CDC Museum at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship.
The History of Vaccines
Provides a living, changing chronicle of the compelling history of vaccination, from pre-Jennerian variolation practices, to the defeat of polio in the Western Hemisphere, to cutting-edge approaches to novel vaccines and vaccine delivery. The site aims to increase public knowledge and understanding of the ways in which vaccines, toxoids, and passive immunization work, how they have been developed, and the role they have played in the improvement of human health.
more...less...
Host: College of Physicians of Philadelphia
National Library of Medicine's History of Medicine Division
Collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets for diverse audiences one of the world's richest collections of historical material related to human health and disease.
Science Museum: Epidemics
A series of curated online exhibits looking at the bubonic plague, smallpox, and polio.
Vernon McKay Photographs (NorthWestern)
A broad array of photographs predominately related to disease in Nigeria mostly from the 20th century.
Wellcome Library Digital Collections
The Library's digital collections cover a wide variety of topics, including asylums, food, sex and sexual health, genetics, public health and war.
Published books, pamphlets, archives, posters, photographs, and film and sound recordings are completely free to view.
more...less...
Digitised materials are released under a variety of Creative Commons non-commercial, attribution and Public Domain licenses.
WHO Historical Collection
The Rare Book Collection consists largely of documentation acquired by the OIHP on epidemics included in the International Sanitary Conventions such as: plague, cholera and yellow fever. Materials covering smallpox, malaria and other diseases prevalent at the beginning of the 20th century, are also included. Our oldest book on plague dates from 1507.

Broad Digital Collections

JSTOR Images This link opens in a new window
A database of more than 1.3 million digital images. It covers many time periods and cultures and represent architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, etc. Users are required to create a personal account to access this database off campus.
Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new window
Aggregates digital collections from around the U.S. and offers excellent tools to discover and explore them. Contributing institutions provide access to photographs, government documents, newspaper clippings, books, and other forms of ephemera. Focuses on 17th to 21st centuries.

Gallica
Interface in English and French (and other major, European languages). Majority of the content in French.
France's fantastic digital library from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Digitized periodicals, images, recordings, and more. Covers two millenia with particular strength from 1500 to the present.
Open Access.

HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
A digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the digitized book and serial collections of major universities and other partner institutions, a significant portion of which is in the public domain and available full text.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Digitized primary sources from the Library of Congress, includes manuscripts, books, photos, maps, audio recordings, and more!

World Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The World Digital Library is a Library of Congress project sponsored by UNESCO. Items in this digital library, including books, manuscripts, photographs, maps and sound recordings, are individually described and searchable in seven languages. Most countries and regions around the world are represented.

Sources: News in Papers and Film

ProQuest Historical U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Combined searching of the historical New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Constitution, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, NY Amsterdam News, and Chicago Defender.

For historical newspapers and television, visit BC Libraries' Historical News page.

Sources: US Gov Docs, Medical Reports, and Papers

Records of the Public Health Service, 1794 - 1990 (US National Archives)
More than 300 videos and other documents relating to health (including disease) from the first half of the 20th century, with a concentration in the 1940s.
US National Archives and the Philippines, 1890-1935
Selection of facsimiles of letters, quarantine reports, photographs, and more relating the the US in the Philippines.

Disease: Beriberi

Beriberi is a disease in which the body does not have enough thiamine (vitamin B1). For more information, check out MedlinePlus.

Beriberi in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 30 full facsimiles of texts (predominately books and reports) from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Images from the History of Medicine (NIH): Beriberi
Images predominately from the late 19th century of "Beriberi victims."
Medicine in the Americas (NIH): Beriberi
More than 300 facsimiles of reports, informational records, and more on yellow fever across North and South America from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Disease: Cholera

Cholera is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. For more information, check out the CDC's website.

Cholera and the LOC
The Library of Congress has made more than 3,000 books, periodicals, images, and bills of mortality pertaining to the history and study of tuberculosis online. Focuses on the 19th to the 20st centuries.
Cholera in 19th Century New York
Cholera was among the most virulent infectious diseases to strike nineteenth-century New York. Online curated exhibit with essays and primary sources.
Cholera in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 450 full facsimiles (mostly books, some conference proceedings and statistics) of texts relating to Cholera from across the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cholera on Calisphere
More than 60 facsimiles--mostly images--from the late 19th and 20th centuries relating to Cholera in the US and Japan.
Cholera Online, 1817 to 1900 (NIH)
More than 500 reports and publications from the US National Library of Medicine.
Cholera [Wellcome Library]
More than a hundred digitized sources (text and A/V) relating to Cholera in three languages (English, French, and Spanish) from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Filth and Fever (British Library)
Curated digital facsimiles and essays on public health in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Disease: Dengue Fever

Dengue is a viruses spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus) mosquito. The CDC provides a description of what malaria is on their website.

Dengue at the LOC
More than 200 digital facsimiles (including periodicals, newspapers, books, legislation, and more) related directly or loosely to Dengue Fever from the 19th to the 21st century.
Dengue at the US National Library of Medicine
More than 1000 facsimiles of reports, lectures, illustrations, photographs, and more on dengue fever from 19th and 20th centuries.
Dengue in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 10 full digital facsimiles of texts (mostly books) relating to Dengue Fever.

Disease: HIV/AIDS

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS if not treated. The CDC provides a description and recommendations for prevention on their website.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome at the LOC
The LOC has digitized and provided more than 800 sources on the AIDS crisis, focusing on legislation, periodicals, and books from the 20th and 21st centuries.
AIDS History Project Ephemera Collection
Selections from the AIDS History Project Ephemera Collection, including posters and pamphlets related to the medical and/or social aspects of AIDS and HIV, with a focus on prevention and on addressing misconceptions about the virus and disease. Call number: MSS 2000-31
more...less...
Institution: UC San Francisco, Library, Special Collections
AIDS posters
Over 3000 digitised public health posters relating to AIDS, from 99 countries through the Wellcome Library Digital Collections.
HIV/AIDS at the US National Library of Medicine
Facsimiles of more than 1,200 posters, texts, photographs, and more from the 20th and 21st centuries.
National Commission on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Records
Documents produced between 1983-1994 including briefing books, hearing and meeting transcripts, reports, and press clippings document the activities of the National Commission on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Materials cover all but the last year of the Commission's existence. The majority of the collection consists of briefing books, and hearing and meeting transcripts of the National Commission.
Posters from the Herskovits Library: AIDS
These posters represent a sampling (approximately 130) posters about AIDS from Northwesterns' Africana posters housed at the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies.

Disease: Hookworm

Hookworm, Ascaris, and whipworm are known as soil-transmitted helminths (parasitic worms). For more information, check out the CDC's website.

Hookworm at the LOC
More than 300 digital facsimiles of periodicals, newspapers, photographs, and more relating to hookworm in Germany and the US mostly from the 20th century.
Hookworm at the US National Library of Medicine
More than 500 facsimiles of reports, photographs, illustrations, letters, and more relating to hookworm predominately from the early 20th century.
Hookworm in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 80 full facsimiles of texts (books, serials, statical information, and more) about hookworm from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Disease: Influenza

Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. The CDC provides a description and recommendations for prevention on their website.

1918 Pandemic Influenza Survivors Share Their Stories in Alabama
Ann Brantley, Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Nurse Coordinator of the Center for Emergency Preparedness, interviewed several pandemic influenza survivors for a historical perspective on this devastating event in world history.
The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic from 1918
Curated documents from the US National Archives.
Influenza at HathiTrust
More than 140 documents online about influenza in the 20th century.
Influenza Encyclopedia: 50 Cities and their Stories
These pages contain the stories of the places, the people, and the organizations that battled the American influenza epidemic of 1918-1919.
Influenza on Calisphere
More than 100 digital facsimiles--mostly photographs and newspapers--on the flu from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Pandemic Influenza Storybook (CDC)
A curated selection of documents (text and images) hosted by the CDC about the flu in the 20th century.
WSU Flu Epidemic of 1918
The 1918 Influenza had a dramatic impact on WSU and Pullman. As part of military build-up for World War I, the WSU campus had swelled with 1,325 Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.) cadets. This collection includes more than 120 documents on the issue.

Disease: Malaria

Maleria is is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. The CDC provides a description of what malaria is on their website.

Global Health Chronicles: Malaria
Includes documents, photographs, and oral histories associated with malaria, particularly focused on the United States in the mid-20th century.
Malaria at the LOC
More than 2,800 facsimiles of newspapers, books, legislation, and more from the 19th to the 21st centuries relating to malaria.
Malaria in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 180 texts (mostly books with some serials and statistics) from the 20th (some 19th) century.
National Archives at Atlanta: Malaria Prevention
Photographs and government reports associated with the mid-20th century US government efforts.

Disease: Plague (Black Death)

Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals. It is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. For more, see the CDC's website.

Contagion: Subject Plagues
More than 90 facsimiles of documents (texts, maps, images) relating to the plague in the 19th and 20th centuries through Harvard University.
Plague in the 19th and 20th Centuries in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 350 full facsimiles of texts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries relating the the Third Plague Pandemic.
Plague in the 20th Century (NIH)
More than 800 texts, images, legislation and more related to The Third Plague Pandemic in the 20th century at the US National Library of Medicine.

Disease: Sleeping Sickness (trypanosomiasis)

African Trypanosomiasis, also known as “sleeping sickness,” is caused by microscopic parasites of the species Trypanosoma brucei. For more information, see the CDC's website.

Humphrey Winterton Collection: Sleeping Sickness
Images related to Sleeping Sickness from a collection of East African photographs.
LOC and Sleeping Sickness
More than 90 digital facsimiles, including drawings, newspapers, and other materials, relating to sleeping sickness, mostly from the 20th century.
Sleeping Sickness in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 50 full facsimiles of texts (books, reports, bulletins, and more) about sleeping sickness predominately from the 20th century.
Trypanosomiasis with the US National Library of Medicine
More than 190 facsimiles of maps, reports, photographs, letters, and more relating to trypanosomiasis predominately from the 20th century.

Disease: Smallpox

Antibody Initiative: Eradicating Smallpox (Smithsonian)
Essay with dozens of digital facsimiles of smallpox-related text and ephemera (e.g., vaccine packaging).
CDC: The Spread and Eradication of Smallpox
Curated timeline with images about the history of smallpox.
Global Health Chronicles: Smallpox
Includes documents, oral history, and photographs related to smallpox in the mid-20th century and later.
Smallpox: A Great and Terrible Scourge (NIH)
A curated collection with the US National Library of Medicine related the the threat and treatment of smallpox, focused on the US. Includes essays and primary sources.
Smallpox at the LOC
More than 1,600 digital facsimiles of books, newspapers, periodicals, legislation and more relating the smallpox from the 19th to the 21st centuries.
Smallpox in the HathiTrust Digital Library
More than 120 texts (mostly books) from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries on smallpox.

For Additional Help

For additional recommendations, contact your History Liaison, Erin, at erinkate.scheopner@bc.edu or schedule an appointment.

O'Neill Library

Bapst Library

Burns Library

Educational Resource Center

Law Library

Social Work Library

Theology & Ministry Library

O'Connor Library

Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies

HIST 1084-01: Globalization II

Tropical Disease in Primary Sources

Infectious Diseases

What's on This Page

Broad Digital Collections for Disease

Broad Digital Collections

Sources: News in Papers and Film

Sources: US Gov Docs, Medical Reports, and Papers

Disease: Beriberi

Disease: Cholera

Disease: Dengue Fever

Disease: HIV/AIDS

Disease: Hookworm

Disease: Influenza

Disease: Malaria

Disease: Plague (Black Death)

Disease: Sleeping Sickness (trypanosomiasis)

Disease: Smallpox

For Additional Help