Judith Walzer Leavitt: I’m a historian, so I can’t really add anything beyond what the news tells me about the current situation. The following interview was edited for length and clarityĪndy Soth: What do you make of what’s happening now with COVID-19? She talked about the practice of public health throughout American history and how differing experiences between communities plays a role in these efforts. The questions raised through Leavitt’s examination of the media, the legal system and public health officials’ reactions to a woman charged with being a “Menace to the Community” remain to this day.įor some historical perspective on public health responses to disease outbreaks, WisContext spoke with Leavitt, a medical historian and Rupple Bascom and Ruth Bleier Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Leavitt’s 1995 book, Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public Health, tells the story of Mallon, an Irish immigrant cook in New York and asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever who was involuntarily quarantined and spent years in isolation during the early 20th century. For those familiar with the story of the actual person who would become known as an infamous spreader of disease, though, the name Judith Walzer Leavitt might also ring a bell. Many people have heard of Typhoid Mary, but far fewer know the name Mary Mallon. An illustration and article published in the Jedition of The New York American labels Mary Mallon as “Typhoid Mary” and discusses her forced quarantine.
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