TLa Salle University Students See Up Close How Philadelphia’s Yellow Fever Epidemic Changed History

Preston Feden’s La Salle University class “Medicine in America” went back in time. 

His students visited the sites of one of America’s worst epidemics, the Yellow Fever scourge of 1793, when 4,000 of Philadelphia’s 55,000 residents died.  

From the home of one of the doctors who attempted to cure the fever (and did more harm than good) to the house of a future First Lady, students traversed the city’s oldest neighborhoods. (The tour was made possible by La Salle’s “City as a Classroom,” program, in which faculty from various disciplines use Philadelphia locations or resources to enhance their teaching.) 

“The class focuses on the ways that our culture has shaped, and been shaped by the art and science of medicine,” says Feden, a Professor of Education. “We are trying to go back in time as best we can to see what went on.” 

“It was neat to be able to put a realistic twist on the story of Yellow Fever and the history of it,” said Carleen Caldwell, a junior. “We actually got to see where it took place.”  

Feden had students make presentations about the epidemic, such as the major figures involved who attempted cures. At each stop a student would present their research on that part of the tour.  

“I find that by giving parts of the tour students learn the material better,” says Feden, “Students become engrossed in the story by taking hold of a part of it as their own.”  

One location was the Second Bank of the United States, located on Chestnut Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. It houses a magnificent portrait gallery, which includes several famous figures affected by the epidemic, such as Thomas Jefferson (then U.S. Secretary of State) and Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who treated many fever victims.   

Another stop was the brick outline of a working-class home (barely larger than a queen- sized bed) on Fourth Street between Market and Chestnut Streets. Behind this home was Doc’s Creek, one of the streams where mosquitoes carrying the yellow fever nested during the hot, humid summer of 1793.  

The next location was the spot where Dr. Rush’s home stood, on the corner of Third and Market Streets, and where a student discussed Dr. Rush’s unsuccessful attempts to cure yellow fever. 

The next locations were the still-standing homes of Bishop William White and Dolly Todd (later First Lady Dolly Madison) and her family. 

White’s house was a typical upper-class row home, with four floors and a basement, and he needed every inch of it: he had 11 grandchildren living with him during the epidemic. On the first floor, the parlor was still set for tea. White’s housekeeper, servant and stable boy were struck by the fever, and only the housekeeper survived. 

Dolly Todd, who later married James Madison, fourth President of the United States, lived in a typically middle-class house, with smaller rooms and lower ceilings than White’s. Students discussed how Todd must have struggled up the narrow stairs with children in tow. Her husband, attorney John Todd, and his paralegal died of yellow fever in the house. (The same day John Todd died their infant son died of unknown causes.) 

Next were the Christ Church burial grounds, where many fever victims are interred. The final stop was Elfreth’s Alley, the nation’s oldest continuously lived-on street, barely wide enough for cars to drive through.  

Melissa Marinaro, a senior elementary and special education major, spoke about this site. “To prepare for this, I actually ventured there to go on the Elfreth's Alley Tour (given by the U.S. Park staff),” said Marinaro.  “I feel that the Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia is a major part of the city's history that is too often forgotten about and overlooked.” 

Five students from the group are now making a video of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 story, based upon the tour that the class designed and led.

-- Bernadette McPherson