Class Year

2024

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Spring 2022

Department 1

History

Abstract

Throughout the early 20th century, the relationship between higher education and the spread of epidemic disease evolved in the United States. Two notable epidemics of scarlet fever in 1915 and 1920 serve as a lens through which the larger roles of disease and higher education can be analyzed. By assessing the roles both the administration and the students played at Gettysburg College, then Pennsylvania College, historians can understand the process of combating health crises in the future. Although the Pennsylvania College scarlet fever epidemics of 1915 and 1920 impacted campus to a smaller extent than the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the documentation from the students and faculty demonstrate the development of a complex understanding of the roles of educational authority in response to health crises.

Comments

Written for HIST 305: Global Epidemics: From Subjugation to Science.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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