Philadelphia—
Introduction
Engraved for the London Magazine, The East Prospect of the City of PHILADELPHIA in the Province of PENNSYLVANIA
City of Philadelphia, Department of Records
Founded by William Penn in 1682 on the banks of the Delaware River, Philadelphia was, for a time, the largest city in America, the one-time U.S. capital, and later, an industrial powerhouse with the world's busiest freshwater port. Throughout the city's long history, Philadelphia has been an epicenter of innovation and change for this nation, from its role in the founding of the United States and the shaping of American ideals to its commercial dominance owing to its strategically central position in the urban northeast.
What superlatives remain for the City of Brotherly Love remind us of the city's rich history, its innovative cultural spirit, its commercial connectivity, and its expansive population.
Any city as old and large as Philadelphia has seen its share of plagues
"On the 5th of August, I was requested by Dr Hodge to visit his child. I found it ill with a fever of the bilious kind, which terminated (with a yellow skin) in death on the 7th of the same month."
Yellow Fever 1793
An Account of the Bilious remitting Yellow Fever, as it Appeared in the City of Philadelphia in the Year 1793 (1794)
"... symptoms include extreme abdominal pain, violent diarrhea and vomiting, with parts of the intestines flaking off and being discharged as peculiar 'rice water.' Death comes rapidly from severe dehydration and shock in some forty to sixty percent of cases."
Cholera 1832
The Sisters of Charity, the 1832 Cholera Epidemic in Philadelphia and Duffy’s Cut (2009)
"As their lungs filled with rales the patients became short of breath and increasingly cyanotic. After gasping for several hours they became delirious and incontinent, and many died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth. It was dreadful business."
Spanish Flu 1918
Influenza in 1918: Recollections of the Epidemic in Philadelphia (1976)
"16 per cent died... Within less than a day there was a rapidly rising fever associated with shaking chills... Chest pain often accompanied the cough and was frankly pleuritic in a third of the cases. Dyspnea, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms also occurred in many of the patients."
Legionnaires' Disease 1976
Legionnaires' Disease: Description of an Epidemic Pneumonia (1977)
"Six patients has pneumonia... and one had necrotizing toxoplasmosis of the central nervous system. One of the patients with Pneumocytis pneumonia also experienced severe, recurrent, herpes simplex infection; extensive candidiasis; and cryptococcal meningitis."
HIV / AIDS 1981 (ongoing)
Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia Among Homosexual Men - New York City and California (1981)
COVID-19
2020
Starting in early 2020, the city once again became gripped by a disease that threatened the health of its citizens and dramatically altered the way millions around the world operated. But everything old is new again—diseases that swept through the city in the past can show us that the measures taken and the reactions of today are not without precedent.
The novel coronavirus differs from the yellow fever, influenza, and cholera outbreaks that interred thousands of Philadelphians in the past not merely in terms of physiological effects, but in its wider-reaching consequences as well. The nuances of Covid-19's ramifications on the political, economic, and social spheres - particularly in the age of social media - give it unique footing within our city's history as citizens both here and around the globe engaged in acts of self-preservation, greed, mourning, sacrifice, and community. But as with all pandemics, these elements emphasize the humanity found within every instance of outbreak, and challenge us to compassionately engage with the these very human stories.
References
1. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia Among Homosexual Men - New York City and California.” MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, July 3, 1981.
2. Fraser, David W. et al. “Legionnaires' Disease: Description of an Epidemic Pneumonia.” The New England Journal of Medicine, December 1, 1977. 10.1056/NEJM197712012972201
3. Rush, Benjamin. An Account of the Bilious remitting Yellow Fever, as it Appeared in the City of Philadelphia in the Year 1793. Philadelphia: Printed by Thomas Dobson, 1794.
4. Starr, Isaac. “Influenza in 1918: Recollections of the Epidemic in Philadelphia.” Annals of Internal Medicine, July 18, 2006. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-145-2-200607180-00132
5. Watson, William. “The Sisters of Charity, the 1832 Cholera Epidemic in Philadelphia and Duffy’s Cut.” U.S. Catholic Historian 27:4 (Fall, 2009): 1-16.