Pox_ An American History - Michael Willrich [200]
I am especially grateful to a few individuals who read a draft of the manuscript late in the game and who provided thoughtful, expert comments: Art Bookstein (my father-in-law and a voracious reader of nonfiction), Jon Cohen (a close friend from our City Paper days and a first-rate science writer), David Igler (one of my oldest friends and a stellar historian), Charles E. Rosenberg (the dean of medical historians), and Conevery Valencius (who possesses an unusually deep knowledge of the medical beliefs of rural nineteenth-century Americans). D. A. Henderson, a man whom I have never met (but about whom I have read a great deal due to his leadership of the World Health Organization’s smallpox eradication program), generously read the manuscript and provided expert comments. Like most people today, I have never seen a case of smallpox, and it was both intimidating and rewarding to be able to share this project with a scientist who knows the disease and its ways so well.
Laura Stickney at the Penguin Press has been an ideal editor for this book. As fluent as she is smart, she has edited with a sharp eye and a light hand. I am also grateful to my outstanding agent, Geri Thoma, for her unflagging support and for helping me find my way in the world of trade publishing.
I owe everything to my family.
Art and Lynne Bookstein have given me steady, unconditional support since I married their beautiful daughter fifteen years ago. Many thanks to Dari Pillsbury, who is a great friend and our in-house photographer extraordinaire.
Through their steadfast love, encouragement, and the example of their own lives and work, my parents, Mason Willrich and the late Patricia Rowe Willrich, nurtured my passions for reading, writing, and teaching, and I thank them both for everything. I also wish to thank Wendy Webster Willrich for her support. I am deeply grateful to my siblings and their wonderful partners—Chris and Susan, Stephen and Kelly, and Kate and Erik—for challenging me and supporting me through the years. You’re an amazing family, and I am lucky to have you. I’ll see you soon on Stinson Beach.
I have saved my greatest debts for last, knowing words will never be enough. Max and Emily, I am so proud of you both. Thank you for your constant reminders of the things that really matter. I love you. And Wendy Jayne Willrich, you know I couldn’t have done it without you. You know the tune: “I’m giving you a longing look....” With respect, gratitude, and the deepest love, I dedicate this book to you.
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Notes
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES
Archival Collections
Published Government Documents
Frequently Cited Journals
Frequently Cited Newspapers
PROLOGUE
1 U.S. Census Bureau, Twelfth Census of the United States (1900), Schedule 1—Population, Manhattan, New York, New York, District 461. Note: all enumeration district-level census data cited in the notes to follow was retrieved using the U.S. Federal Census Collection in the online database Ancestry Library Edition, ancestry.com (Provo, UT). “Smallpox on West Side,” NYT, Nov. 30, 1900, 2. Robert W. DeForest and Lawrence Veiller, eds., The Tenement House Problem: Including the Report of the New York State Tenement House Commission of 1900 (New York: MacMillan, 1903), 53.
2 “Jumped Through a Window,” NYT, Nov. 29, 1900, 4. “West Side Robberies,” NYT, Nov. 29, 1900, 5. “Chinaman Whips a Gang,” NYT, Dec. 6, 1900, 2.
3 “Smallpox in Manhattan,” NYT, Nov. 28, 1900, 3. “Chemists Report on Water,” NYT, Nov. 29, 1900, 5. For a concise contemporary description