The History of Vaccines

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Print, Smallpox Codex, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
Annotation

This website explores the vaccination process from 900 CE to the present day. Tracing humanity's earliest known observations about disease transmission and immunity up to modern vaccination programs, the website includes articles, primary sources, and interactive activities.

Most attractive to educators will be the "Gallery" section. Browse more than 550 primary sources related to disease and vaccination, including pamphlets, photographs, artifacts, and more, as well as 90 videos. For easier browsing, filter the sources by topic, media type, or time period.

History teachers will also appreciate the "Activities" section. Seven interactive diagrams illustrate scientific and historical concepts, including herd immunity, how vaccinations work and how they are made, and changes in required vaccines over time. "Pioneer Breakthroughs," an interactive quiz, tests players' knowledge of vaccine-related discoveries, and "The Scientific Method" walks players through the steps in identifying the source of a disease outbreak and containing it. "Illsville," an online game, challenges players to keep the population of a town healthy from 1600 through the present day.

The site also includes an interactive timeline featuring images and short synopses of events from 900 CE to the present. View all of the events, or filter them by topic.

A database of essays in "Articles" covers more than 50 topics in the categories "Vaccine Science," "History and Society," "Vaccine Information," "Vaccine-preventable Diseases," and "Common Questions."

Note the four lesson plans in the "Educators" section. Spanish-language versions of site content are available as well.

Medicine and Madison Avenue

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Image, Ayds ad, Carlay Company Inc., 1953, Medicine and Madison Avenue
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Designed to help users better understand the evolution and complexity of medicinal marketing in the 20th century, this website provides more than 600 health-related advertisements printed in newspapers and magazines from 1910 to 1960. Ads are organized into six categories: Household Products; Over-the-Counter Drugs; Personal and Oral Hygiene; Vitamins and Tonics, Food, Nutrition and Diet Aids; Institutional and Pharmaceutical; and Cigarettes. Over-the-Counter Drugs; Personal and Oral Hygiene; Vitamins and Tonics, Food, Nutrition and Diet Aids provide the largest number of advertisements; the Cigarette category offers only one.

Supplementary materials, such as internal reports from marketing companies, American Medical Association reports and editorials, Federal Trade Commission archival records, transcripts of 1930s radio commercials, and medical journal articles, focus on the production and influence of health-related advertisements. A bibliography provides 80 further reading suggestions. The project highlights materials for case studies on Fleischmann's Yeast, Listerine, and Scott Tissue.

Madam C.J. Walker Had a Good Head on Her Shoulders for Hair Care

Description

Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), the daughter of former slaves, started life as a farm laborer and laundress but finished it as a pioneer of the modern African American hair care and cosmetics industry. A'Lelia Bundles, Walker's great-great-granddaughter, offers highlights of Walker's early life and her career as an innovator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

To listen to this lecture, scroll to the February 13th, 2009, program; and select "Listen now." Part two can be accessed by doing the same with the February 24th, 2009, program.

Ellis Island 1891-1924: Immigration, Public Health, and the American Workforce

Description

At this workshop, educators will be "joined by immigration scholars and public health historians, visit related historic sites in New York City that vividly tell the story of immigration in the early part of the 20th century, and investigate Ellis Island's un-restored hospital buildings with an architectural historian to uncover their significance." The workshop will "specifically address the impact of the 1891 immigration legislation mandating health as a criterion for admission to the U.S., precipitating construction of the U.S. Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island to screen and treat arriving immigrants."

Contact name
Frazier, Jan
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Endowment for the Humanities
Phone number
1 973-347-8428
Target Audience
Fourth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Cost
None
Course Credit
"Although the Ellis Island Institute cannot arrange for individual professional development credit certifications, it will supply a certificate with equivalent professional development hours for each participant. Participants will be responsible for submitting the certificate to any certifying agency or organization."
Duration
Five days
End Date

Ellis Island 1891-1924: Immigration, Public Health, and the American Workforce

Description

At this workshop, educators will be "joined by immigration scholars and public health historians, visit related historic sites in New York City that vividly tell the story of immigration in the early part of the 20th century, and investigate Ellis Island's un-restored hospital buildings with an architectural historian to uncover their significance." The workshop will "specifically address the impact of the 1891 immigration legislation mandating health as a criterion for admission to the U.S., precipitating construction of the U.S. Public Health Service hospital on Ellis Island to screen and treat arriving immigrants."

Contact name
Frazier, Jan
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Endowment for the Humanities
Phone number
1 973-347-8428
Target Audience
Fourth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Cost
None
Course Credit
"Although the Ellis Island Institute cannot arrange for individual professional development credit certifications, it will supply a certificate with equivalent professional development hours for each participant. Participants will be responsible for submitting the certificate to any certifying agency or organization."
Duration
Five days
End Date