The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System is hosting a presentation titled “Nursing Care in the 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic” by Deanne Stephens on May 7 at noon in honor of National Nurses Week.
In 1878 the worst American outbreak of yellow fever occurred in the Mississippi River Valley. Over the course of the spring and summer of that year, the region recorded 120,000 cases of yellow fever and between 13,000 and 20,000 deaths from the disease.
Yellow fever takes its name from the yellow-ish color of affected patients’ skin and eyes. The virus affects multiple organ systems, causes internal bleeding, and can be fatal.
The yellow fever epidemic in Mississippi resulted in an expansion of nursing care and the recognition of the importance of nurses in disaster care. Many of the nurses were from the Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Mercy, while others were from the Howard Association. These nurses were vital to the recovery of many who had no one else to care for them as the epidemic caused panic among the citizenry and many fled the disease.
Stephens, associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi, said, “Because of the severity of the epidemic, race relations also underwent dramatic changes as African Americans nursed white Mississippians in a post-Reconstruction period fraught with racial tension and violence.”
National Nurses Week was established by the American Nurses Association in 1993 to celebrate and elevate the nursing profession. National Nurses Week is a time to recognize the contributions and impact of America’s four million registered nurses. Each year, the celebration ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
The presentation is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
For more information, contact Mona Vance-Ali at 662-329-5304.
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