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Yellow Fever
The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 was an important event in the history of
Philadelphia, particularly black Philadelphia, and in the history of medicine.
Philadelphia, along with Charleston, suffered the first Yellow Fever outbreaks in
the American Colonies in 1699. The city avoided an outbreak in 1747 by
quarantining a ship from Barbados. Then, in 1793, after a 31-year absence, Yellow
Fever hit Philadelphia and decimated 10% of the population. Home to the national
capital, both local and federal officials, along with thousands of citizens, fled
Philadelphia as the epidemic continued from summer into fall. Mayor Matthew
Clarkson was left to manage the epidemic and was aided by citizens such as
Stephen Girard, Benjamin Rush and leagues of African Americans.
Search Terms: Philadelphia Board of Health; Philadelphia Lazaretto Quarantine
Station; Benjamin Rush; Mayor Matthew Clarkson; Stephen Girard; Absalom
Jones; Richard Allen; Mathew Carey; Philadelphia’s College of Physicians
Recommended Collections:
Library Company of Philadelphia Benjamin Rush Manuscripts volume 35: Letters
to Benjamin Rush on Yellow Fever
UPA/Ph RC 211. P5 P53 1848 ‘Alphabetical List of Persons Admitted to Bush
Hill Hospital in Philadelphia, Sept. 11th to Nov. 25th, 1793 {Yellow Fever
Victims}, taken from the ‘Minutes of the Proceedings of the Committee Appointed
on the 14th of September, 1793, By the Citizens of Philad..with the Malignant
Fever.’ (Philadelphia, 1848).
E 441 .A58 Vol.112, No.12 Richard Allen, ‘The Life, experience, and gospel
labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen….Written by himself…(Philadelphia: Martin
& Boden, 1833). See pp’s. 29-44, for ‘Blacks/Yellow Fever aid to victims in
Philadelphia in 1793.
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UPA/ Ph 26A:1 Yellow Fever Deaths in Philadelphia
UPA/Ph RC 211.P5 M44 1997 Estes, J. Worth, and Billy G Smith. A Melancholy
Scene of Devastation : The Public Response to the 1793 Philadelphia Yellow Fever
Epidemic. Canton, MA: Published for the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
and the Library Company of Philadelphia by Science History Publications/USA,
1997.
UPA/Ph RC 211.P5 P6 1949 Powell, J. H. 1914-1971. Bring Out Your Dead : The
Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1949.
The diary of Elizabeth Drinker, 1758-1807
Collection #1760
*Extensive materials on Benjamin Rush, Stephen Girard and Mathew Carey are
available by looking in the PC1 card catalog.
Other Sources of Information:
Girard College - 2101 South College Ave., Philadelphia www.girardcollege.edu
The Great Fever at PBS – www.pbs.org
Library Company of Philadelphia - 1314 Locust St., Philadelphia
www.librarycompany.org