Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, and Memphis was devatated by it in the 1870s. Virulent feveres rocked the city, and thousands of fleeing citizens took the carrier mosquito with them to towns all over West Tennessee- staggering losses were experienced in Collierville, Paris, Brownsville, Milan, and Martin. During the epidemics of 1873 and 1878, more than 7,000 Memphians who stayed behind died horrifying deaths.

Weblink address (URL): 
Yellow Fever
Home Page- source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 
  • Today we will... describe the impact of yellow fever during the 1870s.    
  • So that you can...Analyze how the disease started    and spread and comprehend its effect on a population.        
  • You will know if you got it if...You can use primary sources to cite evidence about the yellow fever epidemic and generate your own questions about the topic and create a yellow fever comic.
Essential and guiding questions: 
  • What is yellow fever and how was it caused?
  • What was it like to have yellow fever?
  • How would you keep track of the infected, dying and the dead?
  • Why was it important to report daily the number of people newly infected and the number who died?
  • What are some ways you might stop the disease from spreading?
  • How did people living in Humbodt, TN feel about yellow fever?
  • Why is it important to bury the people who died from yellow fever a certain way?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding

Helpful Hints

Materials Needed:

  • Primary sources related to yellow fever from the Tennessee State Library and Archives (linked below in activities)
  • Large construction paper of white poster board size paper
  • Dialogue bubbles (easily discoverable online through  google search)
  • Markers, crayons, or colored pencils