Because enslaved Africans in South Carolina were less affected by the 1742 yellow fever epidemic than whites, it was presumed 50 years later that Black people in Philadelphia had greater immunity. When the Free African Society was called upon to care for those affected during Philadelphia’s 1792 epidemic, Black nurses became the primary caregivers.
Over a 3-month period when more than 5,000 people died, mostly Black women staffed the yellow-fever-ridden hospitals. While a limited number of Black men were recruited to remove and discard highly infectious corpses, Black women served as front line health workers who attended to the needs of Black and white patients stricken by the disease during one of America’s worst epidemics. To learn more about this historic occasion when Black nurses made the difference, click here.