2.5: The 1832 Cholera Pandemic

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the 1832 cholera pandemic on New Orleans, highlighting the death toll and the responses of individuals like Reverend Theodore Clapp.

Cholera strikes New Orleans. Ten percent of the city is killed. Reverend Theodore Clapp performs a minister’s duty amidst the horror. We learn about bizarre treatments. Germ theory is not yet a thing. READ MORE: Autobiographical Sketches and Recollections, during athirty-five years' residence in New Orleans by Theodore Clapp The Cholera Years by Charles E. Rosenberg “Nineteenth Century Public Health in New York and NewOrleans: A Comparison” by John Duffy “Cargo, ‘Infection,’ and the Logic of Quarantine in theNineteenth Century” by Davis S. Barnes “Asiatic Cholera in Louisiana, 1832-1873” by Leland A.Langridge Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues editedby Joseph P. Byrne “Outline of the History of Malignant or Asiatic Cholera inNew Orleans, La.” by Joseph Jones “How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in19th-Century New Orleans” by Karin Wulf SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri -- https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

People in this episode

Host: Steve Keller

Topics covered

• cholera
• pandemic
• New Orleans history
• public health
• 19th century
• treatments

Keywords

• cholera
• pandemic
• New Orleans
• Reverend Theodore Clapp
• 19th century
• public health
• treatments
• germ theory

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Autobiographical Sketches and Recollections, during a thirty-five years' residence in New Orleans, The Cholera Years, Nineteenth Century Public Health in New York and New Orleans: A Comparison, Cargo, ‘Infection,’ and the Logic of Quarantine in the Nineteenth Century, Asiatic Cholera in Louisiana, 1832-1873, Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues, Outline of the History of Malignant or Asiatic Cholera in New Orleans, La., How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in 19th-Century New Orleans

Places: New Orleans

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