[June 26th marks the 300th anniversary of Boston physician Zabdiel Boylston’s first inoculations against the raging smallpox epidemic. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy Boylston and other vaccine figures and histories, leading up to Friday’s post on the Covid vaccine!]
On three figures
who deserve to be part of the (complex) story of smallpox inoculations
alongside Boylston.
1)
Onesimus:
I’ve written before about how the
enslaved woman Tituba helps us better remember not just another side to the
Salem Witch Trials, but also the consistent presence of enslaved people (especially
African Americans, but also Native Americans) throughout colonial
New England. Tituba’s experience, like all those affected by the events in
Salem, was both horrific and extreme, but it does reflect this larger New
England and American community—as does the life and influence of Onesimus, an
enslaved African American who was brought to New England in the early 18th
century, was gifted to Cotton Mather by his Boston congregation around 1706 (and
given the name Onesimus by Mather at that time), and through his knowledge of
and experiences with inoculation became a vital source of information for the application of
that concept by Boylston 15 years later.
2)
Cotton Mather: I’ve also
written before about Mather’s contributions to the development of smallpox
inoculations, and how it significantly shifts his story from his frustrating role
in the Salem Witch Trials. At that point I don’t believe I knew the story
of Onesimus, however, which is partly a reflection of my own need to continue
learning, but also a reminder that even in their more inspiring stories white
men tend to dominate our narratives of history in ways that need challenging
and changing. Moreover, while it seems that Onesimus
offered his knowledge freely to Mather (and in so doing changed the course
of history), it’s nonetheless important to note that Puritan minister Cotton
Mather, one of early America’s most influential religious thinkers and leaders,
was also
a slaveowner. That’s all part of the smallpox story too.
3)
John Boylston: When local physician Zabdiel
Boylston learned from Mather of the concept and possibilities of inoculation,
he decided to try
the process out, producing a great deal of controversy among his fellow Bostonians,
to the point where he had to hide out in a secret space in his house for some
time to
avoid threats. While Boylston thus took a significant risk in experimenting
with inoculation, the far greater risk still was undertaken by the three people
he initially inoculated with a small dose of smallpox. Two of them, to continue
the thread of my prior paragraphs, were unnamed enslaved
men who deserve a central place in the story alongside Onesimus. The third
was Boylston’s 12 year old son John, who while far from enslaved likewise likely
had little choice in the matter. Given the fatal threat posed by smallpox, I
understand why Zabdiel sought to inoculate his son, who seemingly survived and
lived into adulthood; but the least we can do is commemorate young John
Boylston as part of this complex smallpox story.
Next
VaccineStudying tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Vaccine histories or contexts you’d highlight?
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