“You Cannot See Anyone but Negroes:” Huntsville’s Yellow Summer of 1867

Authors

  • Sarah Schmitt

Abstract

Huntsville, Texas, experienced its first yellow fever epidemic in the
summer of 1867. As ten percent of the town perished, many members
of the local, white community decided to flee or hide in order to escape
contamination. However, due to a myth of hereditary black immunity,
the local freedpeople stayed and exposed their susceptible bodies to one
of the most dreaded diseases of the time. This essay relies heavily on
primary documents, including newspaper articles, letters, and official
reports, written during the epidemic and shortly after its conclusion.
The documents bring to light the attitudes, fears, and beliefs that
underpinned the American South during the era of Reconstruction.
This study concludes that the myth of immunity robbed untold
numbers of African Americans of the ability to make their own
informed choices and of their lives. Furthermore, this essay proposes
that the myth survived for centuries—even as various epidemics proved
it fallacious—due to the medical community and a widespread desire
for convenience.

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Published

2018-11-19

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Section

Articles