Here in the US we have definitely had our share of contagious outbreaks over the years. How did we cope with these diseases back then? You will be surprised to learn. It’s the history of quarantine in America.

From 1783 to 1971, officers working at the Staten Island station boarded and inspected thousands of ships coming into New York Harbor each year to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. When deadly and contagious diseases were present, the vessels were fumigated and the passengers quarantined until it was safe for them to land in New York.

The word “Quarantine” comes from an old Italian phase – quaranta giorni- meaning forty days. The practice of quarantine began during the 14th century in an effort to protect coastal cities from plague epidemics. Ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing.

When smallpox and yellow fever threatened to strike New York in 1738, the City Council set up a quarantine anchorage off Bedloe's Island --- now home to the Statue of Liberty. This island became a quarantine station for contagious passengers and crew from arriving ships.

It was the Chinese Year of the Rat when bubonic plague struck San Francisco in 1900. When a 41-year-old San Franciscan named Wong Chut King died of a particularly violent disease in March 1900, city authorities quarantined a 12-square-block section of Chinatown with rope and barbed wire after allowing all Caucasian residents to leave. The epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, but its existence was denied for more than two years by California Governor Henry Gage. Why, you ask? Because his denial was intended to protect California’s $40 million dollar fresh produce industry from quarantine. Governor Gage even called it a “fake plague.” So when federal authorities proved that there was a major health problem it undermined the credibility of Gage, and he lost the governorship in the 1902 elections. The new Governor George Pardee, a doctor of medicine, implemented sanitation measures and the epidemic was stopped in 1904.

And of course, there were those who just did not want to comply, feeling that quarantines and wearing masks infringed on their civil liberties. By mid-October 1918, San Francisco had more than 2,000 Spanish flu cases. The city's Board of Health enacted various measures to try to curb the disease, such as banning gatherings, closing schools and movie houses, and warning citizens to avoid crowds. Professions that served customers - including barbers, hotel employees, and store clerks - were required to wear masks. The October mask ordinance was annulled effective November 21, 1918; however, when cases of the flu began to increase again - guess what? - a new ordinance mandating masks took effect again January 17, 1919. However this ordinance galvanized serious opposition and the Anti-Mask League was formed. An estimated 2,000 San Francisco citizens attended the meeting on January 25, 1919. The debate was heated. Some objections to the ordinance were based on questions of scientific data while others considered the infringement on civil liberties. San Francisco buckled under pressure and lifted the mask requirement effective February 1, 1919, on the recommendation of the Board of Health. The Flu pandemic eventually came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity.

2020 is the year of CoVid19, but the public responses, good and bad, are not surprising, since public health choices and citizen behavior to epidemics have been documented since our country was founded. By the way, can you guess who was quarantined the longest in American history? It was Mary Mallon, also known as "Typhoid Mary," who was immune to the typhoid she carried. Working as a cook, she spread the disease in New York and ended up quarantined on North Brother Island, New York for the last 23 years of her life.

Please leave your comments below. And visit hmdb.org to find an historical marker near you.

#quarantine #fakeplague #bubonicplague

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